Lemon Mobiles aims to be among top five handset makers

Indian handset maker Fastrack Communications (FCPL), with its brand Lemon Mobiles, was established in 2008 and wants to steadily climb the ladder to be among the top five handset  players in India in terms of market share, within the next three years.
Gopal Kalra, advisor, FCPL, said, "We are targeting a revenue of Rs 1,600 crore in the next three years and if the thing goes at the current pace then meeting our target will not be an issue."
Talking about investment, Sandeep Mushran, director, FCPL said the company plans to invest $100 million (over Rs 460 crore) in India in a phased manner over the next three years. In the first phase, it will invest Rs 80 crore on its manufacturing unit; in the second phase, Rs 100 crore will be spent on infrastructure; and in the third phase, the company plans to spend around Rs 80 crore on strengthening its retail chain. Apart from that, seven to eight per cent of funds are earmarked for advertising during each year.
Kalra added, "We plan to have our brand present in around 100,000 retail stores over the next three years, with an aim to capture 10 per cent of total shelf space. The company also plans to expand into South Asian countries, followed by Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe."
As far as expanding the device portfolio is concerned, Lemon Mobiles will soon launch 3G, Android and a few GPS devices starting first week of September. The company will offer 3G handsets starting at Rs 4,500.
Kalra added that the company’s manufacturing plant in Roorkee, Uttarakhand will start producing devices within the coming six months, and that it will have a manufacturing capacity of 5,000 to 10,000 handsets per month. Initially, the company will just assemble devices at the plant as complete manufacturing is not possible at present.
The company’s handset portfolio currently has an exciting range of products starting from a basic handset to high end models at affordable prices. The company believes in providing its customers innovative products at affordable and smart, value for money prices.
"Lemon Mobiles believes that customer is the king and they want to provide them an everlasting customer experience by a world class after-sales service infrastructure, in addition to continuous quality improvement in their product portfolio," said Sandeep Mushran.