The CEO of Foxtel Pakistan, Siraj Khan, explains why it is still worth it to return to Pakistan to run a telecom-related company! Here you go!
Want to watch other CXO’s talk about their challenges and tell their stories? Click here! Leave your comments about this episode? Did it inspire you? Teach you something you didn’t know? Let us know!Siraj Khan: Coming back to Pakistan
- Posted on 11.13.09
- CXO In Focus, Featured
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[...] to run a telecom-related company! Here you go! Want to watch. Here is the original post: Siraj Khan: Coming back to Pakistan | CIO Pakistan Web Studio … Share and [...]
After watching Siraj displaying kind of confidence and conviction,I am sure the project would take-off. Pakistan is one of the largest markets of cell phone users. It certainly has e capacity to absorb new product provided it is properly priced and marketed. One more criteria would be consistenly good performance of the product with fewer features rather than providing numerious complicated options which usually do not work or not really needed.
Best of luck to Siraj & his team.
@YasminK,agree with you yasmin ..Siraj doing a good job.
Nokia’s initial global reputation was tarnished by high radiation levels from their phones. Despite dramatic improvements, there is still hesitancy and distrust from some consumers. Nokia’s early efforts to hide the safety levels (or lack thereof) of their products damaged their brand.
Motorola’s early reputation was for superior voice quality. Although they’ve had widespread technical problems – even with some of their most popular phones, the early brand capital they accumulated remains a valuable competitive asset.
The challenge for FoxTel will be in creating a persuasive, durable and positively infectious brand image. It is never too early to create a positive brand image.
A brand is different from your trade name or logo. A brand is how other people (your customers or potential customers) view you. Trade names and logos can begin to help with branding, but it doesn’t end there.
Lack of familiarity with branding techniques and a lack of commitment to their successful utilization are the biggest handicaps that companies in Pakistan face, especially export-oriented ones.
If anyone thinks they can compete and win against grey market brands, good luck to them. If I were Foxtec, i would offer the handset for free and make money by advertising like Google does. That is something that the grey marketers cannot easily imitate. On the contrary, if I start competing against the grey market handsets, I will be finished.
Oh of course. Despite what people say, companies such as Nokia have spent a number of years and considerable amount of market research to develop a wide array of phones that match every kind of consumer. Pricing, I think, would be key. Some of the more recent launches by LG, Samsung and Nokia are the very low budget phones that still give a good life for people to be able to engage in basic communication – It’s the flashlight feature, for example, that is more popular than whether or not it has a color screen…
If the market size is large enough, then customization might be the way to go for the Foxtel phone sets. Pricing and customization on accessories such as skin, will probably be the differentiating factors for the phones. Having said that, I also don’t think the established brands are the competition for FoxTel… I’d imagine it to be the larger, gray, China market that would be the real tough conversion. Once you can get an iPhone look alike for a fraction of the cost, you really don’t want to opt for anything else,…. DESPITE the fact that its life would be a fraction of the original piece.
So I suppose the question that needs to be answered is this – When does the action begin with the phones?! Siraj sahab? Some light please!
I agree about the price/feature ratio and so forth. If they can manufacture these phones in Pakistan, may be they can offer a Foxtec for $10. Just doing distribution of a Taiwanese brand can only bring prices so low. And again, Pakistanis are being bombarded by advertising on TV these days and they have become brand conscious consumers. So, don’t take them for granted. They want a good brand, a good product and value for the money they spend. Again, I go back to my earlier comment. If Nokia can offer a $50 phone, why would I consider Foxtec?
True – But the biggest competition (threat) to the Nokias and Samsungs IS the gray market phone. If a locally assembled/manufactured piece is available for the price range you have identified, that might help to actually give people a brand new phone for the same price and further divide the gray market phones.. The authenticity remains intact and everyone has one less thing to complain about.. Once the phone hits the market, I think we’ll be in a better position to see whether or not the demand for this phone exists… There are certainly enough people to create that demand for this to make financial sense…
@Nadeem Ahsan:
I remember a few of their phones from their booth at connectIT. The price/feature ratio was much better than many of the mainstream phones, in fact if I remember correctly they were competing with chinese phones in terms of estimated prices, with their value offering being far superior.
I’m looking forward to their official launch!!
I hope one day we can manufacture these phones in Pakistan. Good luck to Foxtec, because most players in this low end mobile phone market have vanished after a few years. It is very hard to compete with large players like Nokia, Motorola and the Korean players who can also manufacture phones for less than $50. In Taiwan, they will make a phone at that price for anyone.
Great interview. Siraj’s optimism will bring success to this venture. This should be a source of inspiration for others who may be thinking of returning back to Pakistan to live and work.
Anthony – Sure there will be discussions and more… For the time being, we’d encourage others to share their stories and experiences… But yes, the more discussion we can engage, the better. Thanks for the comment!
Hey there Fahad – Strange.. The interview works fine. Try waiting for the page to load before clicking on the link… In case it still doesn’t work, can you tell me what page you get when you click on it?
Sharp, very sharp. Both Siraj Khan and the interview as a whole. Hopefully Siraj Khan can return with an update. He would also be great to include in a roundtable discussion.
There will be roundtable discussions. Right?
hi rabia ,
I wanted to watch the video , but when I followed the link it did’nt took me to the video , can you help ??