Nipun Marya is one of the most practical men running the show at a smartphone company. As the CEO of iQOO India, he has taken the brand to a point when youngsters are showing keen interest. Most of the phones coming from IQOO can tackle gaming very well and despite a few quibbles, the brand is getting most things right with its devices. We caught up with Marya in New Delhi after the launch of IQOO Neo 7 Pro 5G and here’s what he had to say.
Since so many launches are taking place, what makes IQOO Neo 7 Pro 5G special?
We always want to present masterpieces. But all pieces don’t turn out to be perfect. In our case, we believe that the IQOO Neo 7 Pro is checking and ticking all the boxes that a customer wants. You want reliable performance or pathbreaking performance, you have it; you want a very good camera, you want a good battery and fast charging, you have it. You want a good design, it’s there. And on top of it all, we’ve kept the pricing accessible.
Since you brought up the topic of pricing, how do you go about it? Do you keep pricing in mind and then work towards it?
It can be both ways. It begins by us asking who’s the target customer. Therefore, what are his needs? Finally, it’s a game of optimisation. If you’re able to strike a delicate balance, I think you get a good phone.
And the target user is the gamer?
Most importantly, it is for people who are early into their jobs. These are people who have just started working and whenever they find time, they go through their phones. Imagine someone in the 21-25 age group in your office. He or she has started earning and wants to strike a balance between gaming and other activities on the phone. It’s not that you have to be a hardcore gamer to get this phone. A young person will always look for a phone that can be used for two-three years. The performance is good and the camera is good.
The IQOO brand has now been there for a few years. Do you see a loyalty factor at play now?
I think that’s one important department in which IQOO has managed to do well and our brand name has spread through word-of-mouth publicity. If you go to Amazon — that’s where we sell now — you can check the ratings and reviews. One IQOO product or the other is always in the top three irrespective of the pricing. This means the ratings are always good. If thousands of people are giving our phone a good rating then something is going right.
Compared to rival brands, you like sticking to your core philosophy of offering phones that are high on performance. Can that be a challenge?
You’re right, sometimes there is pressure. But I feel the strongest brands are the ones that have clarity within and strategy is not about doing things; strategy is about deciding not to do certain things. We have decided what are the things we will not do. And the things we do, we do them exceptionally well.
What are the things you don’t want to do?
Quite a few actually. First, we will not make compromises on product features. If our customer is looking for a good design, good camera, good battery… we have to really honour the requirements. We have to really understand the customer because that’s how journeys can continue.
What are some of the features you like in the new phone?
I think the launch will be remembered for how the phone will change the 30K price segment. In the 30K price segment, I don’t think you can get a more complete phone than the Neo 7 Pro. I believe that the market will grow and more and customers will jump price segments. If somebody wanted to buy a 20-25K phone, will also be fine with a 30K device after looking at it.
How long have you been working on this phone? Also, you must be keeping the next two-three years in mind while drawing the roadmap.
Overall, the IQOO brand has been there three years out of which two years were about Covid. I believe that the journey for IQOO has only begun. It takes some time for a brand to shape up. We are ensuring that the brand has strong foundations, meaning quality products and strategy. Where we have reached has come on the back of strong business.
How independent are you from Vivo?
We are a sub-brand of Vivo. While I’m an employee of Vivo, right now I’m exclusively working on IQOO and so are a lot of my teammates. There are resources which we share with Vivo, like aftersales service and manufacturing being another. But in terms of the team’s personal time, we are totally independent, and we’re working only on IQOO.
We are reaching a point where chips really don’t matter because most games are running smoothly on older chips.
I think a lot of work is still being done in this direction. There are complex games that are being made and maybe they are not yet very popular but give it time. I feel as esports culture grows, there will be more games that will come to the fore. At the moment most are enjoying battle royale games but as we move forward, there will be new titles.
How important is the offline segment?
Very important. The advantages that offline offers to any brand are tremendous. Customers can touch and feel a phone before buying it. Right now, we are still predominantly online. In fact, we’re 100 per cent online, and we don’t have a definite date when we will go into offline.
IQOO Neo 7 Pro tries to compete with flagship phones and has gamers in its crosshairs. At the moment, the Rs 33,999 phone is in pre-book mode Picture: The Telegraph