Credit: Alcatel
Alcatel Australia has announced a fresh offensive against rivals like Oppo that'll see the budget brand bring their 2019 range to local retailers.
According to Sam Skontos, VP and Regional Managing Director of South East Asia and Pacific
Alcatel Mobile, “today marks the start of an exciting launch period for
Alcatel and our related brands, with our product also more widely available
than ever before with new open-channel partners including Officeworks, and our
burgeoning presence on Amazon, as we are all about accessibility as well as
affordability."
"In 2018 we sold close to one million devices in
Australia, and this year we’re taking it to another level with flagship-style
features yet won’t break the bank”, he says.
In 2019, Alcatel Australia will be selling smartphones, tablets and other IoT smart things through both carriers like Telstra, Optus and Vodafone and retail channels like JB Hi-Fi, Amazon Australia, Officeworks and Australia Post.
Going forward, Skontos says that Alcatel are looking to keep their focus on the sub-$300 budget market whilst also introducing new devices under the TCL brand to compete in the mid-tier against fare like Samsung's new A-series.
Meanwhile, the Blackberry and Palm brands will continue to act as more expensive "premium" products that cater to their specific niches. In the case of the Blackberry Key2, that means users who want an Android smartphone with a keyboard. In the case of the new Palm, that means users who want a really small Android smartphone.
The idea here is for the Alcatel, TCL, Blackberry and Palm brands to all play within the price-brackets that they are most competitive in rather than try to grow their market share in every segment at once in the same way that brands like Samsung, Oppo or Huawei are known to do.
Skontos also indicated that the company would be bringing their first 5G smartphone to Australia in early 2020, which could shake up the current roster of local 5G devices in a big way.
For more on 5G, check out our explainer on everything you need to know about 5G and everything you need to know before you buy a 5G phone in Australia.
