Okapia phones offer greater value at lower price: GM

Within two years of its launch, Okapia, a Bangladeshi handset-maker has been able to gain the confidence of the country’s users. With the tagline ‘Bonding Inspired’, Okapia is moving ahead faster than any other competitors in the market.
The Independent talked to Kazi Manzur Ahmed, General Manager of Okapia to discuss the brand and its position in the smartphone market of Bangladesh.
What is Okapia’s position in the Bangladeshi handset market, in comparison to other brands?
Okapia is a Bangladeshi branded handset. There are several other Bangladeshi brands such as Symphony, Walton, Winmax, We, Maxima, Mycell, Strawberry, Goldberg and Stylus. Out of those brands, Symphony has the largest market share of 42 per cent, with Winmax at 9 per cent, Walton at 8 per cent and Ocapia at 6 per cent. The rest of the Bangladeshi brands are not doing that well and their market shares are very insignificant.
As a brand, we have positioned ourselves between Symphony and Walton, Winmax, who we hope to surpass within the next year. We are providing quality smartphones at reasonable prices. After the launch, we had some initial problems with our phones, which we have overcome. In the last six or seven months, we haven’t received any complaints from our customers.
What are the specialities of Okapia phones?
First of all, Okapia is a Bangladeshi phone. We have our assembling facility in China, but are a completely Bangladeshi brand. We have a total of 17 smartphone and 22 feature phone models. The highest price of our smartphone Okapia Evolution costs Tk 11,900 and the lowest, Okapia Desh costs Tk 3,200.
The highest price of our feature phone, Okapia Mirror, costs Tk 1,990 and the lowest, Okapia Shadhin costs Tk 820. All our phones offer the latest technologies and necessary functions. So, within these price ranges, these are the best phones available in the market. Our prices as well as our quality are our big advantages over other brands in the market.
Why do you think people would buy your phones instead of other established brands?
I’ll explain it with an example. Consider our Okapia Signature phone. It has 2GB RAM, 13 MP rear camera and 5 MP front camera, quadcore processor and a long battery life. If you want to buy a phone of ‘Oppo’ with the same configuration, you have to spend Tk 22,000-23,000. For a Samsung phone with the same configuration, you have to shell out Tk 45,000-Tk 50,000. We offer the same features, processor speed and battery life, but at Tk 9,900 with two years’ warranty.
So, you are paying that extra amount for just brand value. In this rapidly changing technological landscape, where flagship phones are replaced with newer ones within 10 months, people are more likely to pay a reasonable amount for a reasonable phone rather than spend large sums just for brand value, for similar features.
Do you have to compromise on quality to keep the price low?
No, we don’t. We make sure the best quality raw materials are used to assemble our phones. We can offer the phone at cheaper prices since our branding costs are low. We are aiming at the local market, so the marketing costs are low. If we cross the border to India, the price will double because of setup costs, marketing and branding.
You mentioned that your phones are being assembled in China. People in our country have a perception that products made in China are of low qualities and don’t last long.
There is a big difference between manufacturing and assembling. Our phones are not manufactured in China, but assembled there. Different parts of the handset can be manufactured in various parts of the world. Our phone has over 220 components, from different parts of the world, being assembled at the facility. For instance, the Qualcom processor comes from USA.
Besides, the perception that products made in China are of poor quality is not true anymore. China is the largest manufacturing nation in the world. You can get top quality products as well as of lower quality. We make sure we get the best and provide the best.
How do you tackle that perception about your phones? How is your customer service?
We use our own channels to address people’s perceptions. We have 14 branded shops, 47 fast-track (shared outlets with other brands) and 239 SIS (Shop in Shop, which houses several brands) across the country. In each of these places, we have a dedicated BP (Brand PR Business Promoter). They elaborately explain the materials and process that goes into making the phone. We also provide two years’ warranty.
We have a total of 52 service centres now. Our minimum lead time is two hours and maximum is two weeks. It also depends on the availability of spare parts, which are available only at our service centers. We ensure that no cheap or fake parts are integrated with our phone from any other places. We sourced these parts directly from China.
Do you have any plan to establish the assembling facility in Bangladesh?
Yes, we are already working on that. We plan to start exporting our phones by 2017. Initially, we targeted three markets—Myanmar, India and the continent of Africa. We might start with Nigeria, Gambia and Ghana in Africa.

Okapia phones offer greater value at lower price: GM

Within two years of its launch, Okapia, a Bangladeshi handset-maker has been able to gain the confidence of the countrys users. With the tagline Bonding Inspired, Okapia is moving ahead faster than any other competitors in the market. The Independent talked to Kazi Manzur Ahmed, General Manager of Okapia to discuss the brand and its position in the smartphone market of Bangladesh. What is Okapias position in the Bangladeshi handset market, in comparison to other brands? Okapia is a Bangladeshi branded handset. There are several other Bangladeshi brands such as Symphony, Walton, Winmax, We, Maxima, Mycell, Strawberry, Goldberg and Stylus. Out of those brands, Symphony has the largest market share of 42 per cent, with Winmax at 9 per cent, Walton at 8 per cent and Ocapia at 6 per cent. The rest of the Bangladeshi brands are not doing that well and their market shares are very insignificant. As a brand, we have positioned ourselves between Symphony and Walton, Winmax, who we hope to surpass within the next year. We are providing quality smartphones at reasonable prices. After the launch, we had some initial problems with our phones, which we have overcome. In the last six or seven months, we havent received any complaints from our customers. What are the specialities of Okapia phones? First of all, Okapia is a Bangladeshi phone. We have our assembling facility in China, but are a completely Bangladeshi brand. We have a total of 17 smartphone and 22 feature phone models. The highest price of our smartphone Okapia Evolution costs Tk 11,900 and the lowest, Okapia Desh costs Tk 3,200. The highest price of our feature phone, Okapia Mirror, costs Tk 1,990 and the lowest, Okapia Shadhin costs Tk 820. All our phones offer the latest technologies and necessary functions. So, within these price ranges, these are the best phones available in the market. Our prices as well as our quality are our big advantages over other brands in the market. Why do you think people would buy your phones instead of other established brands? Ill explain it with an example. Consider our Okapia Signature phone. It has 2GB RAM, 13 MP rear camera and 5 MP front camera, quadcore processor and a long battery life. If you want to buy a phone of Oppo with the same configuration, you have to spend Tk 22,000-23,000. For a Samsung phone with the same configuration, you have to shell out Tk 45,000-Tk 50,000. We offer the same features, processor speed and battery life, but at Tk 9,900 with two years warranty. So, you are paying that extra amount for just brand value. In this rapidly changing technological landscape, where flagship phones are replaced with newer ones within 10 months, people are more likely to pay a reasonable amount for a reasonable phone rather than spend large sums just for brand value, for similar features. Do you have to compromise on quality to keep the price low? No, we dont. We make sure the best quality raw materials are used to assemble our phones. We can offer the phone at cheaper prices since our branding costs are low. We are aiming at the local market, so the marketing costs are low. If we cross the border to India, the price will double because of setup costs, marketing and branding. You mentioned that your phones are being assembled in China. People in our country have a perception that products made in China are of low qualities and dont last long. There is a big difference between manufacturing and assembling. Our phones are not manufactured in China, but assembled there. Different parts of the handset can be manufactured in various parts of the world. Our phone has over 220 components, from different parts of the world, being assembled at the facility. For instance, the Qualcom processor comes from USA. Besides, the perception that products made in China are of poor quality is not true anymore. China is the largest manufacturing nation in the world. You can get top quality products as well as of lower quality. We make sure we get the best and provide the best. How do you tackle that perception about your phones? How is your customer service? We use our own channels to address peoples perceptions. We have 14 branded shops, 47 fast-track (shared outlets with other brands) and 239 SIS (Shop in Shop, which houses several brands) across the country. In each of these places, we have a dedicated BP (Brand PR Business Promoter). They elaborately explain the materials and process that goes into making the phone. We also provide two years warranty. We have a total of 52 service centres now. Our minimum lead time is two hours and maximum is two weeks. It also depends on the availability of spare parts, which are available only at our service centers. We ensure that no cheap or fake parts are integrated with our phone from any other places. We sourced these parts directly from China. Do you have any plan to establish the assembling facility in Bangladesh? Yes, we are already working on that. We plan to start exporting our phones by 2017. Initially, we targeted three marketsMyanmar, India and the continent of Africa. We might start with Nigeria, Gambia and Ghana in Africa.