Indian phone firm dials up Gulf expansion

Indian mobile phone company Lava International has signed an agreement with Dubai’s Sharaf Electronics to expand its portfolio of products across the Middle East and Africa.

Set up in New Delhi in 2009, Lava International is one of the top three mobile phone brands in India and sold over 6m in India last year. The unique selling point is the phones can accommodate dual SIM cards. The deal with Sharaf Electronics will see Lava phones distributed in the Dubai-based firm’s 21 stores across the UAE and Bahrain.

"The UAE is an important part of our global expansion plan," said Shailendra Nath Rai, co-founder and director of Lava International.

"While we are firmly established in the Indian mobile market, the focus now will be to take our product range to international markets. Lava will introduce its complete range of smart phone devices and tablets driven on the Android platform - a segment that is gaining increasing importance."

The UAE is one of the most lucrative mobile phone markets, with penetration rates reaching 230 percent in the second quarter of 2012.