Phone companies diversify into accessories, services space to boost topline, margin

NEW DELHI: As growth of smartphone sales taper off with the Indian smartphone market attaining a sizeable installed base of 500 million users, handset brands are now diversifying into accessories and services space to boost their toplines and margins.

Market intelligence firms believe leading smartphone brands will increasingly focus on entertainment, gaming, payments, advertising and smart wearables to drive margins from existing users and retain a loyal customer base.

Chinese phone makers Xiaomi, Oppo and Realme have launched their financial services apps called Mi Credit, Oppo Kash and Realme Paysa to offer small ticket loans to SMEs, credit score analysis and insurance cover. Home-bred phone brand Lava spun off its digital payments app to offer offline money transfer to its feature phone users. Analysts expect other brands including OnePlus and Vivo to follow suit.