Imran Khalid Mahmood, Country General Manager (Pakistan & Afghanistan) of Nokia talks to Blue Chip about the major challenges facing the mobile phone sector in Pakistan and dicusses the factors behind Nokia phones being the handsets of choice for all sorts of consumers.
In an intensely competitive environment, what do you think has attributed to Nokia’s tremendous success in Pakistan?
Imran Khalid Mahmood: “Nokia has been the market leader in Pakistan and around the globe for many years. We have a very clear leadership in the market with the next competitor not even half the size of ours. There are many factors that have led Nokia to this position: vast product portfolio, easy to use devices, innovation and consumer research.
If we talk specific to Pakistan, low-end phones and music phones are the primary areas where Nokia has proven that it understands the consumer more than anyone else.”
What are your views on the regulatory and legal framework governing telecommunications in Pakistan? What recommendations would you make?
IKM: “There are several authorities that are working towards the development of telecommunications in Pakistan. Operators have played a major role by reducing the tariffs and making mobile phone usage convenient and affordable for an average income earning Pakistani. Nokia has been in the forefront in bringing the handset costs down year on year to ensure that the low-end segment, which comprises of more than 50% of the Pakistan mobile users today, have access to new and better technology devices. The only area I feel where the benefit is not being transferred to the consumer is the duties and taxes, by the government, of mobile handsets imports and sales. If we look at the last five years, when the real growth has stepped in Pakistan, both handset importers and service providers have brought their costs down but you will notice an upward trend in taxation and duties in the same era.
Our recommendations are very simple: treat mobile phones like cars! Duties should be levied on luxury phones and not on basic phones that cater to an average salaried or daily wage earner!”
What challenges do you face?
IKM: “Challenges are part of life and my personal belief is that if there are no challenges, life is meaningless! Today, as we speak, Nokia is facing two challenges.
The first one is import duties: the additional duty imposed on the import of mobile phones (Rs. 500 and after three months another Rs. 250 flat rate per phone) by announcing mobile phones as luxury items has not only disturbed the prices for consumers but is also a support to the illegal imported devices.
The second is that the LC margin has increased to 100%. With the global economic crunch and the local economic and political issues, it is difficult for any individual or company to extend the spent by 100%. LC margin used to be 30% which has now been increased to 100%, thus shrinking the buying power of our distributors. This not only affects the sales cycle but the product availability for consumers is affected. In this situation, the parallel imports take the biggest advantage by bringing in products and charging much higher prices from the consumers.”
How can the smuggling of phones be prevented?
IKM: “Smuggling can only be prevented by strengthening the law enforcement organisations and strict rules at the point of entry. However, having said that, Nokia has taken a few steps to discourage the grey game in Pakistan. Our sales packs now come with a sticker suggesting consumers to check the IMEI no. to verify if this is an original Nokia phone that they are buying. All a consumer has to do is to send an SMS and instantly the Nokia system will confirm if the device is under warranty or not. Secondly, Nokia care network does not entertain phones that are not Nokia warranty, thus a consumer will eventually insist for a Company warranty phone rather than a dealer warranty.”
What drew you to a career on telecom?
IKM: “Devices have always been my passion and my job as well!”
You are responsible for managing a large team and a diverse product portfolio, what do you think are the essential skills for being an effective leader?
IKM: “The passion to keep the team motivated and being on top of the business.”
How has your experience been in Pakistan and how do you see Pakistan’s telecom market developing in the future?
IKM: “The future of Pakistan telecom looks very positive for Nokia. We have some amazing products lined up for the low income market and that is where the growth will come from.”
Where did you study and can you tell us about your work experience prior to joining Nokia Pakistan?
IKM: “I studied in Pakistan initially and later moved to the US for my Masters degree majoring in Engineering. My career started off as a product manager in a company in US. I came back to Pakistan in the late 80s and started to work for the teleco industry. With experience on product portfolio management, device technology and strategic management, I rose to the top level of Pakistani teleco personnel by making it to the regional position managing strategic assignments in multinational teleco, which got me the opportunity to head the enterprise business for Nokia APAC region, where I enjoyed launching the famous Nokia E90.
Working with Nokia, I contributed at several senior level positions leading from various fronts and in 2006 was finally placed as the Country General Manager to manage the Nokia business in Pakistan and Afghanistan contributing towards effective growth for Nokia with my 20 years of teleco experience.”
Imran Khalid Mahmood — Country General Manager, Pakistan and Afghanistan
Imran Khalid Mahmood is the Country General Manager Nokia Pakistan and Afghanistan and is responsible to drive sales in the region along with execution of multiple business functions like Nokia Care, Marketing and retail operations.
Imran was previously working as the General Manager for the Enterprise Solutions Mobile Device Unit (ES MDU), for Nokia APAC based in Singapore. Initially as member of Global ES MDU Management Board & later as APAC Management Team, he influenced future product roadmap & pricing strategies to capture market share, attain higher margins & achieve profitability.
Some of the highlights of Imran’s career at Nokia, include the development of the APAC launch strategy for Nokia’s E Series & Solutions which lead Nokia to achieve €250M in sales within 3 years of inception. He also successfully entered the Japanese market with the E61, Nokia’s first 3G email device with Softbank Vodafone.
He has an outstanding track record of leading multicultural teams across APAC and has been responsible for managing Nokia’s wide portfolio of mobile phones and devices since 2007. He is a high-achieving global executive with over twenty years of experience in the telecom industry. His experience in the telecommunications industry covers all aspects of the cellular business; including product development, sales & marketing and business development.
Imran is married with two kids.