From left, Karel Holub, Chris Weber and Vlasta Berka of Microsoft.
MANILA, Philippines–Chris Weber wants to have a selling proposition for his smartphones that can convince potential buyers in just three minutes. That’s a pretty short time for a man who is challenged by the dominance of two other smartphone businesses in the world market, and even in the Philippines today.
“We have to tell our story better,” Weber says.
As the man responsible for selling Microsoft’s Lumia and Nokia phone brands (the latter under a 10-year contract) at a time when people think of smartphones as just either Android or iPhone (by Apple), he will need a lot of convincing power.
Right now, Nokia under Microsoft will focus only on smartphones under the Windows environment.
“It’s very clear for us that the strategy within Microsoft is to make the market for Windows phones. That is our mission. And we’ll make that with absolutely great hardware, software and services, including apps,” says Weber, corporate vice president of Mobile Devices Sales of Microsoft.
In Manila recently, Weber started his three-minute sales pitch by laying out Microsoft’s strategy in the phone business.
“There’s really three things that we’re doing,” he says.
“One: We’re doubling the portfolio investments on the affordable smartphone segment. It’s an area we’ve been very successful with the Lumia 520, and we’re expanding that with the product launches of the 530, 630 and 730. And we’ll have a full portfolio within the next 12 months to really drive volume and share in that affordable segment.
“The second area is what I would call the high-end, where we’ve launched the Lumia 930, and where we’ll also continue investing.
“The third is the value flagship, the Lumia 830 that we’ve launched. It really is about taking all the goodness of the high-end smartphones and bringing that at price points that are so much more affordable.”
The Philippine market appears to be back on the Microsoft-Nokia map, what with the very recent introduction of the 730 in the market.
“If you just look at the market in the Philippines, 15 percent of the population is using smartphones. So, there is lots of opportunity for us to take all this goodness at the flagship level and bring the value to consumers. We’re quite excited about that,” says Weber.
Microsoft plans to face the Android market head on by bringing down Lumia prices by as much as 40 percent.
The ultimate objective is to convince Android users to switch to Windows.
“If you gave me 15 or 20 minutes with Android customers, I’m pretty confident I can convince them of Windows phone in Lumia,” he declares.
But Weber estimates that a sales professional may only have three minutes at the most to make a pitch, given the noise in the local smartphone selling market.
Hence, the quest.
“We’re in this transition where we’re bringing in a whole new set of devices out in the portfolio, which is exciting. And with that, we’ll continue to build the momentum both from the consumer and app ecosystem side,” Weber says.