Will Vivo S1 be successful in India? Director of brand strategy explains why it's worth it

The launch of Vivo S1 has kicked the smartphone manufacturing companies with style. The first of its kind to be launched in India, the device is grabbing a lot of attention within the mid-range smartphones placed within the Rs 20,000 segment.

The S-series has stepped into the Indian market distinguishing itself with its device boosted by the latest Helio P65 processor. Vivo S1 will be competing with smartphones like Realme X, Redmi K20, Huawei Y9 Prime boosted by Snapdragon processors within the same price range. 

The launch event grandly stated that the device is focused on style and substance. But in a world of tech-enthusiasts, lower sliding of specifications might turn out to be a bad decision for the manufacturers. There have been multiple questions about the device going against market trends. Here are some of the answers that were given to us by Nipun Marya, Director of the brand strategy at Vivo Mobile India, through a brief interaction.

The launch of Vivo S1 with the Helio P65 processor raised the biggest question on the credibility of its performance with comparison to the Snapdragon-powered phones in the market. To this Marya cited that they have focused on producing a device that renders quality and experience. He claimed that Helio P65 is the latest MediaTek processor and S1 is the first Indian device to have packed it. He added that the market is summed up by two types of consumers, performance-hungry and camera hungry, but the S1 merges the community by providing the best for both consumers.

With the manufacturers focusing to produce camera-centric smartphones within the Rs 20,000 segment, Vivo is trying to compete with the 16MP primary sensor and not the 48MP shooter. To a reference to this question, Marya stated that good picture quality and a good result is a requirement for the public and not megapixels. He explained that while megapixel is a hypothetical proxy to how good the camera will be, the major role-play is by the performance of the camera. He said that the S1 has three cameras for wide-angle clicks, bokeh effects, and provides the best camera experience and that's what matters at the end.

Considering the sales of the S1, the major issue that might haunt Vivo is the sales depletion of Z1 that offers almost the same specs that of the new launch with some minor flicks. Replying to this, Marya clearly claimed that the sales depend on the consumers and what their needs are. He explained that online evaluation is mostly done by tech-savvy people who spend on overpowered processors and high-resolution cameras.

The other sect, the offline evaluation gives value to looks as well as specifications. He added that for the company, the consumer is the king and the company will respect individual needs before defining the value of the products.

In a brief walk-away talk, Marya also clarified the pricing of Vivo S1 referring to the K20 petition controversy by stating that the company has priced the device with due diligence and they expect the consumers to value it considering the performance and not by mere price resemblances.