Hyderabad|India|November'2010: iBall a popular brand for computer peripherals is now foraying into mobile phone market and is launching today in Andhra Pradesh a new range of mobile phone handsets. For the first time in India the brand has launched range of mobile phones under seven segmented categories each having unique characteristics. Under this first phase iBall presented seven distinct segments within the range of iBall mobile phones. Said Sandeep Parasrampuria, Director, Best IT World (India) Pvt Ltd, “All iBall products are unique in blending technology with design, aesthetics and innovation. Our range of mobile phones combine these three attributes even better, in a highly cost-efficient manner.”

The 7 segmented categories being launched by iBall today are Shaan, Waterproof, Sleec, Flip, Posh, Touch and Senior. The notable among these 7 new categories include Aasaan Phones. In a youth centric world where technologies get outdated on a daily basis, iBall presents an adorable tribute to our respected elders, the easy to use Aasaan phones. Exclusively designed for senior citizens with large keypad, enhanced sound, wire free FM and exclusive SOS button helps empower our seniors; Water-proof (floatable) and Slimmest mobile phones etc. and others, disclosed Sandeep Parasrampuria addressing a press conference in city.

Best IT World (India) Pvt. Ltd. is the owner of iBall brand of Computer Peripherals. iBall started its journey in 2001 with a single product category (computer mouse), today it has grown into a leading brand with over 275 products spread across 20 categories. It has many firsts to its credit including the launch of over 35 products and technologies for the first time in India. iBall today is a Rs.3000 million enterprise (FY 2009-10). iBall is a well accepted brand in the corporate world and is fast becoming a household name throughout the country. iBall which started off with one product category – the mouse, is now present in over 20 product categories as well as adds new range of mobile phones in seven categories. iBall is today considered to be the fastest growing brand in its product segments. The philosophy of iBall is “Your eyeball view, our technology new”.

iBall’s brand growth is unparallel in the industry. Over a period of time it has registered a vibrant growth. It has virtual leadership with over 80% market share in Digital Note Recorders. It is the leader in Mouse and Keyboard technology with 12% market share. It has 16% market share and is the leading brand in Cabinets and 70% market share in Pen Tablets.

There are over 700 million mobile phone subscribers in India presently. Monthly demand is over 20 million handsets per month. Annually the demand is set to cross 250 million handsets in India.

Andhra Pradesh is one of the largest subscriber bases for the telecom industry, registers a whopping nine lakh new mobile phone connections every month. Nearly 8 to 9 lakh subscribers are being added every month in the state. Hyderabad itself boasts of 60 lakh mobile users already and the number is increasing. Even the growth in rural areas in the state is very promising and is growing at the rate of 18 per cent. Nearly 1.5 lakh rural subscribers are added every month. The demand for handsets in Andhra Pradesh is equally promising.

But these potential customers have different requirements. Realising this gap and keeping up with our reputation to understand the psychology of the Indian consumer, iBall has come up with handsets, which are custom made to cater to the requirement of the different class of people at different age group & across sectors.

Explained Parasrampuria, “Based on in-depth research, we have introduced feature like SOS button for senior citizen, we have also designed waterproof handsets considering the Indian weather and lifestyle of working Indians. iBall will be the first brand in Indian mobile phone market to come out with a very clear cut segmented strategy for mobile phones. Through this segmented strategy the brand will be looking at different segment demographics, consumer preferences, specialized requirements."

iBall has specifically catered to the segment that was untouched by other mobile phone companies by launching iBall Senior mobile phones to target the senior citizens. iBall Senior Mobile Phones has been designed taking into consideration the elders with features like large fonts, amber color, enhanced sound and comes with the remarkable feature of SOS button.

Within 7 seconds of pressing SOS button, the handset sends a siren to alert the surrounding people know that the person is in trouble and should be immediately attended to. It also sends SMS to pre-defined 5 numbers and starts dialing those numbers automatically one after another till one call is attended.

iBall also launched the slimmest qwerty phone in India under its category Sleec and model Thin. This is just 8 mm in thickness and the nearest competitor is at-least 25% thicker than this and on an average most QWERTY phones are 65% or more thicker than this. The Thin phone comes with dual battery, dual camera and dual sim. A very elegant optional cover which houses the second battery to use is bundled free with the Thin phone. With the dual battery a person gets to talk almost 10 hours.

All the phones in the seven categories have some unique features. iBall is also launching the first waterproof mobile phones in India. At the press conference, Mr.Parasrampuria immersed the phone inside a bowl full of water for over 10 minutes. Two hours later, the phone was working just fine. The biggest USP of this waterproof mobile phone is it floats on water. So even if one drops the phone in sea or a lake, it can easily be retrieved.

The price range is positioned very affordably and starts from Rs 1250/- for Shaan model and goes up to Rs 6500/- for Vibe wifi. The initial response from the market was excellent. The relationship launch meet held in city on Monday received overwhelming response. The future is the market of handsets affordable to common consumers with superior features.

iBall has simultaneously launched the products in over 400 cities with 500+ distributors across the country. The Company already has 23 branch offices across the country. iBall has over 100 self owned service centres, another first for a consumer product company in India.

iBall has a strong distribution network & a growing dealer network in mobiles in the state of Andhra Pradesh. It will have 28 distributors spread across 23 districts of Andhra Pradesh by the end of the month. The state will also have 6 self owned service centres by the end of the month informed Mr. Surendra Kumar Saraogi, Branch CEO, Best IT World (India) Pvt. Ltd.

iBall has won many prestigious awards such as the Best Peripheral Brand 2010 (Orissa Govt. & IT Association of Orissa (ITAO))’ the Most Preferred Brand, Best Cabinets, Best Multimedia Speakers 2010 (NCN); Best Speaker Brand (Compass 2010), etc.