Reacting to an IANS report that financial woes in China may hit Gionee's India operations, David Chang, Global Sales Director, Gionee India, said that the brand is here to stay.
"We are in the process of restructuring our India team and executing a completely different business model for the brand very soon," Chang told IANS.
Sources said the company may scale down its operations in India and introduce a different business model to ramp up growth.
"We're equally excited about our presence in the Indian market and will like to assure all the gionee lovers that the brand is here to stay," Chang added.
The company had 2.2 percent share in the Indian smartphone market for 2017, according to Counterpoint Research.
Gionee, which established its presence in India in 2012, claims to have retail presence in over 42,000 stores and has 600 exclusive service centers in the country. It also claims a customer base of 1.25 crores in the country.
The company has also been aggressively pushing for sports sponsorship.
Chang also refuted reports in the Chinese media that the company is facing financial woes in paying its suppliers.
"Recently, on 16th January 2018, some slanderous information about Gionee's senior executive was reported on social media, in an attempt to malign the reputation of the company," Chang told IANS.
"We, hereby, announce this information is proved to be untrue," the Gionee executive added.
Chinese media outlets reported last month that a local court has frozen 41.4 percent stake of Gionee Chairman and Chief Executive Liu Li Rong for two years.
Although the exact reason was not made public, reports said it was because of the "gambling debts".
"Gionee continues to hold a market share of 3.3 percent in China and is determined to grow steadily over the years to come," Chang said.
Back in India, after running domestic operations for nearly five years, Gionee India's CEO and Managing Director Arvind Vohra stepped down last August. Vohra still continues as Executive Director.
Last year, the company announced it would invest Rs. 500 crore in a new manufacturing / assembling unit in Faridabad, Haryana, but there was no news after that.
The company also makes / assembles handsets at a Foxconn plant in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh.
On January 9, Gionee sent out a teaser to the media, revealing its plan to launch another smartphone in India soon. No launch date was shared.
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