New Delhi, Dec 13 (IANS): Nipun Marya, who served as Director, Brand Strategy for Vivo India for five years, has been appointed as CEO for the new and emerging smartphone brand iQOO India, the company announced on Monday.

Under Marya's leadership, iQOO aims to double its online market share in the mid-premium space from the current 5 per cent to 10 per cent in India by 2022.

"iQOO's target audience is tech-savvy young Indians who go into the details before purchasing smartphones. The 'make in India' brand will offer cutting-edge, top-of-the-line specifications for users who want premium experiences from their devices," Marya told IANS.

"I would strive to create a robust brand awareness among the millennial and Gen Z smartphone lovers in the country," he added.

The appointment comes at a time when top smartphone players are in the process of cementing their sub-brands in the highly-competitive India market.

Under Marya's leadership, Vivo held the third position in the third quarter this year with a 15 per cent share, and became the top 5G smartphone brand for the first time in Q3 2021, while remaining the top offline smartphone player as well.

The brand reached its highest ever ASP (average selling price), which can be attributed to the increased focus on the premium segment through the V-series and iQOO-series smartphones, according to Counterpoint Research.

iQOO, which stands for 'I Quest On and On,' witnessed a massive growth of 671 per cent in Q3.

"He has successfully led vivo's expansion and brand evolution in India. We are delighted to see him assume charge as iQOO's CEO and are confident he will play a pivotal role in cementing the brand's position within the India market," said Jerome Chen, CEO, Vivo India.

Marya would be responsible for driving the growth of iQOO brand and its operations in India, as the brand focuses on growing its market share to cement its position in the premium performance smartphone segment.

"Our smartphones like iQOO 7, Z5 and Z3 have been the highest rated smartphones in their respective segments on Amazon. This inspires us to further strengthen our ambitions to bring a bold line of breakthrough innovations in future products," said Marya.

Witnessing the dynamics of the Indian smartphone market, the new iQOO CEO will also focus on strengthening the premium and mid-premium portfolio for the brand in the country, said the company.