Karbonn
Company typePrivate
Industry
FoundedMarch 2009; 15 years ago (2009-03)
Founder
  • Sudhir Hasija
  • Pardeep Jain [1]
Headquarters
Delhi
,
India
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
  • Pardeep Jain
    (MD & Director)
  • Shashin Devsare
    (Executive Director)[1]
  • Alok Kumar
    (General Manager Marketing)[1]
Products
ServicesElectronics manufacturing services
RevenueIncrease ₹650 crore (US$81 million)
Number of employees
10,000+
ParentJaina Group and UTL Group
Websitewww.karbonn.in

Karbonn (known as Karbonn Mobiles) is an Indian multinational electronics company, headquartered in Delhi. The company was founded in March 2009 and manufactures feature phones, smartphones, tablets and mobile phone accessories.[2] Karbonn is a joint venture between United Telelinks Ltd., a Bangalore-based firm and Jaina Marketing Pvt. Ltd., headquartered in New Delhi.[2]

Karbonn Mobiles also has tie ups with leading telecom players like Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Jio.[2] Karbonn operates in countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Yemen, United Kingdom and parts of Europe.[3]

History

The company struck a deal with Eros International, the makers of Rajinikanth-starrer film Kochadaiyaan (2013). The deal involved the manufacture of five lakh (500,000) items of Kochadaiyaan merchandise with screen savers and images from the film, the trailer, behind-the-scenes shots, the signature tune of the film, and the lead actor's signature on back cover of phones.[4]

Karbonn ties with online digital entertainment service provider Hungama.com and have an app preinstalled.[5]

In October 2012, Karbonn announced the launch of their brand extension 'Karbonn Smart'. The range includes a smart tab and smartphones based on Android operating system.[6] In February 2014, Microsoft announced Karbonn as a hardware partner of Windows Phone operating system.[7]

Karbonn Sparkle V is one of the initial Android One phones manufactured by Karbonn Mobiles in cooperation with Google Inc.[8]

Brand

Karbonn was ranked the 77th most trusted brand in India among 1,200, by The Brand Trust Report 2014, a study conducted by brand analytics company Trust Research Advisory.[9] In the 2017 edition of the report, it stands at the 350th position among 1,000 Indian companies surveyed.[10]

Karbonn is the first Android One phone to be sold in the Europe : Karbonn Sparkle V2.[citation needed] The company entered the UK market through Amazon.co.uk

In 2019, Gionee's Indian subsidiary was acquired by the promoters of Karbonn.[11] In 2020 they announced Gionee Mobile as a sub-brand of Karbonn.[citation needed]

In March 2022, Karbonn announced that it would undergo liquidations as the company have been facing a severe revenue decline due to the pandemic.[citation needed]

Revenue

The firm's total investment in the Indian consumer market was over US$5 million in the year 2011. The firm contracted with semiconductor companies for their handsets and targets mainly the Indian market. The firm has over 85,000 retailers and 1000+ service centers (150+ dedicated exclusively for Karbonn) across India. Karbonn Mobiles aims at registering a turnover of ₹4,000 crore during the 2013-14 financial year.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Company Overview of Karbonn Mobile India Private Limited". Bloomberg. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
  2. ^ a b c "Company Overview of Karbonn Mobile India Private Limited". Bloomberg. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  3. ^ "Karbonn mobiles aims Rs 5,000 crore turnover in current fiscal". www.businesstoday.in. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  4. ^ "Eros to present Rajinikanth-starrer Kochadaiyaan". Rediff.com. 3 July 2012. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
  5. ^ a b "Karbonn Mobiles eyeing Rs 4,000 cr turnover in FY 14". Business Standard India. Business Standard. Press Trust of India. 16 July 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  6. ^ Saraswathy, M. (12 October 2012). "Karbonn Mobile launches new gadgets under Karbonn Smart brand". Business Standard India. Business Standard. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  7. ^ "Microsoft Announces Bangalore Based Karbonn As New Windows Phone Hardware Partner". 2 April 2014.
  8. ^ "Karbonn Sparkle V Review Simple, stable and affordable". Digit.in. 22 September 2014.
  9. ^ "India's Most Trusted Brands 2014". TRA Research. 2014. Archived from the original on 2 May 2015.
  10. ^ "The Brand Trust Report 2017". TRA Research. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
  11. ^ Mukherjee, Writankar (27 June 2018). "Karbonn promoter, minority shareholder Vohra join hands to buy Gionee India". The Economic Times. Retrieved 1 August 2023.

External links

Electronics industry in India
Major mobile device companies
Categories