Chinese smartphone maker Comio has reportedly shut down its India operations. The company commenced operations in India last year with the launch of three devices and claimed to have sold thousands of units in the country. In order to strengthen the local operations, it hired Sanjay Kalirona, a former CEO of Zen Mobile as the chief executive and board member.
However, it now seems like the company has bowed down to market scenario and has decided to exit Indian operations altogether. According to 91mobiles, the Chinese management is allegedly leaving India with some unfinished business. This has, in fact, led to its CEO filing a police complaint against some of the company executives. A copy of an email by a distribution channel manager in India obtained by 91mobiles, sheds more light on the issue.
The mail noted while the company was able to sell 9 lakh units in a year, the quality of products were below the mark and that the “worst part has been quality issues faced by us in most of our models.” The letter goes on to claim that the Chinese management team did not change its strategy, which further led to loss of confidence for the brand among its customers.
The letter further notes that the Chinese management of Comio along with its India directors and the CEO decided to settle pending dues and settle liabilities over the next 3-4 months in October. It was also allegedly decided that the after-sales operations in India would continue for another year so that the service warranty is honored by the company, even after its departure from India.
However, the letter from Kalirona says that the Chinese team members of the company left India abruptly in the first week of November and “asked us from China to close the operations immediately.” The Indian team has reportedly not received any satisfactory response from the China management team regarding settlement of pending dues and hence, a police complaint has been filed by Kalirona.
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The letter also notes that all Indian employees of Comio have been asked to leave the job and are now under tremendous pressure. Distributors, on the other end, have been left in a limbo and there is no clarity on settlement of their employment dues.
