Staines vendor Verve Connect ‘s InMyOpinion brand won eight per cent of the pre-paid handset market throughout the second half of 2017 according to GfK.
The rise in market share marks a successful 2017 for IMO as CEO Wu Sa (pictured above) announced that the manufacturer had also hit all targets set in the previous 12 months, their first full year of trading.
Although Sa couldn’t be drawn on financials, speaking in 2017, IMO head of sales and propositions Nigel Whitehead said that the company was targeting at least £7 million in revenues with Sa also affirming the desire to ship over half a million devices by December.
Verve Connect managing director Wu Sa said: “I’m very glad say that we are bang on our target of a quarter of a million units and I think it’s safe to say we will be looking at more than double that figure.”
Adding Experience
Following the successful 2017, Verve Connect has also announced the appointment of former Liberty Global European vice president for mobile Chris Edwards to its smartphone brand InMyOpinion (IMO).
Edwards will join IMO as director of business development, effective immediately and will draw on his experience with manufacturers, networks and distributors to make the devices appealing for network operators.
The latest addition to the IMO team has held senior positions at Huawei, ZTE, Vodafone, Brightstar before joining Verve Connect from Liberty Global.
With Edwards on board, InMyOpinion will now look to create business with MNOs to sell IMO devices direct and drum up business in Europe as well as continue relationships with MVNOs and stand alone retailers such as Tesco Mobile, Virgin Mobile, Amazon and Argos.
Speaking to Mobile News, Edwards said: “I wanted a new challenge and in terms of what IMO has achieved with a pretty dynamic team, I think, has been pretty impressive.
“There is certainly something being done right here with quite a small team and I want to drive and develop the business to grow the brand in the market.
“So far we have been a success for our customers and one of the things that I’m doing is looking to expand that customer base, channel reach and also the product range both in the UK and further afield in Europe.”
Commenting on the appointment Sa added: “In the UK over that last two to three years we have had a solid relationship with all the tier one MVNOs, retailers and distributors.
“Chris has been in the industry for many years and this experience will certainly put us in a good position to align our business with the new target customer base which will be predominantly MNOs and business beyond the UK.”
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