Mumbai: Garmin India, the popular brand of smartwatches in the fitness and wellness segment, has roped in Yeshudas Pillai as the country head for its India operations. His appointment is in line with the company's objective to drive growth and development of the brand. With this appointment, the brand wants to intensify its focus to reach a larger set of audiences, speed up growth initiatives, and elevate its brand positioning.
Pillai will be based in Delhi. In his new role, he will be driving stakeholder engagement, growth, and development of the brand in India. With over 16 years of experience, Pillai has worked for prestigious consumer electronics, consumer durables, FMCG, and premium lifestyle brands.
Garmin is looking at strengthening its presence in India and continues to grow by double digits. The brand aims to boost its business continuously in India.
Addressing the occasion, Garmin's regional director of South-East Asia & India Sky Chen said, "At Garmin, we firmly believe in prioritising the needs of our consumers. We see great potential in the Indian market, where we’ve recorded 32 per cent YoY growth until Q3'22, as per Garmin Connect. Venu series from the wellness segment contributed the most, with a 65 per cent YoY growth till Q3'22 as per Garmin Connect."
He added, "We have seen a growth in the preference for mid-high range ($300 and above) smartwatches over the last couple of years in India. Looking at this trend, we are bullish on the premium segment and plan to expand our offerings. Also, there is a sharp increase in the activity trend, where we see uptake in outdoor activities that resonate well with our product line. For Garmin, we see India becoming one of the top three markets in the Asia region in the next five years."
Welcoming Pillai, Chen said, "Pillai’s multitude of experience and strong track record in the consumer space make him an integral part of our team and will further our vision for the Indian market. With his result-driven professionalism, we look forward to bringing in the required momentum to our business growth in India."
Joining Garmin, Pillai quipped, "I have always been a great believer in innovation and technology and the potential it has to change the moving world. I am excited to join the Garmin team and accelerate its growth in India. I look forward to working with the Garmin global leadership team and providing strategic impetus for strengthening the company’s foothold in India. Our vision is to strengthen our presence across the country, where we aim to have more than 10 Garmin brand stores by the end of 2023."
After setting the precedent with its quality and premium products, Garmin currently has brand stores in Delhi NCR, Bangalore, and Pune. By the end of 2023, the brand aims to expand its presence across markets by opening brand stores, which will also double up as service collection points. Garmin has been known for cutting-edge GPS navigation products for almost three decades. Some of the recently launched product offerings in India embody Garmin’s philosophy of offering users compelling design and superior quality at a competitive price. With an aim to strengthen its positioning across India, the brand will bolster its data monitoring mechanism with ‘Garmin Health API’.
Garmin aims to get closer to its diverse user community through new partners across markets to offer all the latest Garmin products, including the newly launched Venu SQ 2 and Forerunner 955 & 255 series.
