ASUS, the Taiwanese leader in smartphones and IT technology, and Flipkart, India’s largest e-commerce marketplace, today announced a long-term strategic partnership that will see Flipkart become an ASUS premier partner and seller for smartphones, starting with models that have been specially designed to address Indian market needs.
The purpose of this partnership not only covers sales and marketing of products by Flipkart but will also include the following scope:
- Flipkart will be the primary sales channel for ASUS ZenFones. The MOU will further provide customers with the opportunity to enjoy exclusive access to ASUS ZenFones on the e-commerce platform
- Both companies will collaborate in the co-creation of new products for the Indian market based on consumer insights
- On the marketing front, both companies will extensively support each other in the planning and execution of marketing activities for ASUS ZenFones
The partnership will kick off with both companies announcing the launch of first-to-world product developed under this scope: the ZenFone Max Pro, powered by Snapdragon 636 on 23rd April 2018.
The partnership with Flipkart is one of the major steps in a series of other strategic efforts by ASUS to deepen its commitment to the Indian market and consumers to further fuel the company’s growth and strengthen its position in the market.
Commenting on the announcement, ASUS CEO Jerry Shen said, “As a core pillar of our consumer-centric strategy in India, we see tremendous opportunity in creating products and services that address India’s special market needs. With Flipkart’s partnership, we aim to gain more insights about Indian consumers’ needs which can help us develop even more suitable products for the Indian market. Flipkart’s unparalleled distribution reach and marketing strengths will help ASUS build strong awareness for our innovative high-value products and reach consumers across India. We strongly believe this collaboration will provide both companies better opportunity to provide delightful propositions to Indian consumers.”
Commenting on the announcement, Flipkart CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy said, “Flipkart has driven the adoption of smartphones in India, and grown the market, through innovations and a deep sense of knowing what consumers want. With this partnership with Asus, we’re multiplying those efforts by collaborating to leverage our individual strengths — data-driven research & insights, and technological prowess — to build smartphones truly customized for India. Asus is a trusted brand worldwide with a 3 decade global legacy in technology and innovation. Ultimately, we want the latest smartphone technology to be affordable and accessible to everyone, but, while we’re at it, we also want to ensure Indian consumers get smartphones with features they most want.”
To further embed itself as part of the Indian community, ASUS also announced support for digitizing India and aiding the digital education of the needy in Indian society through its CSR initiatives.
At the event, ASUS also displayed a complete lineup of new innovations since 2014 including smartphones, motherboards, gaming PC, high-end routers and even the first smart home robot Zenbo to demonstrate ASUS technology and innovation capabilities.