Positivo eyeing smartphone market crown

The PC market is not enough for Positivo. The Brazilian consumer electronics manufacturer, which last month claimed to have won back leadership of the PC market from Lenovo, is now aiming to snatch the crown of the hotly-disputed domestic smartphone market.

The company's mobile strategy to get to the top of the tree is not much different from the one that has been driving its PC business: accessible prices. Last October, Positivo scored a goal in that sense by brokering a deal to have its phones sold at points-of-sales of operators TIMand Oi.

Positivo said it is aiming at increasingly demanding consumers, who want to buy more complex smartphones, but cannot afford to pay much for them.

Such devices are usually in a price category of 600-1,200 reais (US$285-US$428), but Positivo believes it can go even higher, being successful even in slightly higher tiers, with devices costing around 1,500 reais.

In São Paulo on Tuesday, the company showcased the latest members of its smartphone family, including the first smartphone manufactured in Brazil with an eight-core processor.

The component has been developed by Mediatek, a Taiwan-based global semiconductor provider for fabless firms - or companies that lack specific fabrication processes.

Branded Positivo Octa X800, the phone was designed to be the company's top of the line phone. The device runs Android 4.4 (Kit Kat), with a possible upgrade to 5.0. it is 7.9mm thick and has a 5-inche screen, among other features.

The suggested price for the 8GB internal memory model is 900 reais. It goes on sale in March.

Other launches include the Positivo X400, costing 529 reais, and the Positivo S550 at 549 reais. The company also launched its Positivo P30 webphone, with a suggested price of 139 reais.

REQUIREMENTS

Positivo said it carried out research with customers last year that showed that what Brazilians most need in a smartphone is quick execution of applications, size, screen quality and resistance, design, storage capacity, the most recent operating system and camera resolution.

The company will release its Q4 earnings statement on March 4.