HTC One Mini launched in South Africa

New distributor of HTC products in South Africa, Ingram Micro, announced the HTC One Mini for the South African market at a press event on Wednesday, 6 November 2013.

The HTC One Mini will have a recommended retail price of R5,500 and is available on contract from Cell C from R299 per month.

Vodacom is also expected to offer the device from Thursday, 7 November 2013, on contracts starting from R299, Ingram said. Discussions with MTN and Telkom Mobile regarding the HTC One Mini are ongoing, Ingram said.

Speaking at the launch of the device, Ingram Micro’s head of sales & marketing for HTC, Peter Blantanis said that they have to build the brand from scratch in South Africa.

In 2012, Taiwanese phone maker HTC took control of SA operations from Leaf International Communications. The reins have now been handed to Ingram Micro to for managing distribution of HTC in SA

Blantanis said that they have to focus on getting the little things done right, making sure that they can slowly increase brand awareness in South Africa.

Asked what happened with HTC in South Africa and what they can do differently to make the HTC brand a success, Blantanis said that they can’t focus on the past.

He added that he can’t answer the question on “what went wrong”, but added that Jon French had moved on from his role as the head of HTC Europe, Middle East & Africa operations in June-July 2013, and he was a key driver for the region.

On what they are doing differently, Blantanis said that they have decided to focus only on the HTC One and One Mini for the moment, and that they will focus on channel partnerships to build the HTC brand in South Africa.

Questioned on how they could compete with Samsung’s “accidental damage from handling” warranty, which allows up to 2 “no questions asked” repairs on the Samsung Galaxy S4, Blantanis said it comes down to budgets.

“HTC are so willing to invest in [South Africa]. We just have to show them the numbers,” Blantanis said.

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