After being off the radar for nearly ten years, French smartphone brand Alcatel is staging a comeback in India—with a new strategy, a fresh sales partner, and a clear “Make in India” message.
The company plans to manufacture its smartphones within India and is also setting up a nationwide customer service network, according to a report in The Economic Times. This move is part of its broader effort to reestablish itself in one of the world’s largest smartphone markets.
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To kick off its second innings, Alcatel has teamed up with Flipkart, not just to sell its devices online, but also to tap into the platform’s quick commerce service, Flipkart Minutes. The idea is to make its phones available across major cities as well as smaller towns and semi-urban centers.
“Atul Vivek, Alcatel’s Chief Business Officer, said this partnership is key to their vision of offering not just good phones, but dependable service after the sale. Flipkart’s wide network and data on consumer buying patterns make it a powerful ally as we return to India,” he said in a statement.
Alcatel’s brand name is licensed by China-based TCL Communication, and its phones are sold in over 160 countries. The company had first entered India way back in 1996, selling cordless phones, but exited the market in 2016 after Nokia took over its parent company, Alcatel-Lucent.
This time around, the plan looks different. Manufacturing in India means better price control, fewer import duties, and a chance to tap into the government’s push for domestic production. And with Flipkart on board, Alcatel hopes to hit the ground running with strong online distribution.
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For Flipkart, however, this partnership comes at a sensitive time. India’s antitrust body—the Competition Commission of India (CCI)—has been investigating the company (along with Amazon) over alleged unfair practices like giving preferential treatment to certain brands and sellers, and undercutting prices in ways that hurt smaller players.
While Flipkart has denied wrongdoing, several of its associated sellers have taken the legal route, filing challenges to the CCI’s probe in various high courts across the country.
Even with regulatory clouds hanging overhead, the Alcatel-Flipkart alliance is aiming to make some noise in a crowded market. With India’s smartphone sector showing signs of recovery and mid-range devices gaining popularity again, this might just be the right moment for a forgotten brand to reintroduce itself.
