Leading mobile phones company, Lava International, has entered into a strategic alliance with Sharaf Electronics, as part of its ambitious expansion strategy to cover the entire Middle East and Africa by the end of the year.

"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 entry of the brand in the Middle East is further indication of the changing landscape of the international mobile industry, with Indian manufacturers looking to capture a bigger foothold in the global market, a statement from the company said.

With products aimed at all price segments and age groups, Lava's comprehensive range includes tablets, Iris series of Android-based smartphones, Discover series of Internet touch phones and ARC & KKT series of feature-rich multimedia phones.

"We are entering the UAE with a long term perspective in mind," Rai said. "Consumers in this market are extremely knowledgeable about global mobile trends and are increasing demanding the best-in-class features for their handsets. We are confident that Lava phones will appeal to such consumers who demand high-performance, quality and value-for-money handsets."

Lava is the only Indian mobile manufacturer having its own design capabilities, allowing the company to customise the product as per consumer needs, the statement said. This ability allows the company to enrich the customer's mobile experience through customisation of various features and applications.

In addition, Lava's in-house R&D facility in Bangalore undertakes extensive development on 3G and Android technologies to enhance customer experience.

The UAE has one of the highest mobile penetration rates in the world with active mobile penetration rates exceeding 230 per cent as of Q2 2012 end. Industry reports reveal that the mobile handset market in the UAE has been forecast to grow annually at 7 per cent, valued at $374 million by 2014.

Smartphones make up more than 40 per cent of the mobile phone sales in the UAE, according to a survey done by Arab Advisors Group (AAG). Moreover, with the advent of advanced telecom infrastructure with major telecom operators offering 3G and HSPA networks, the UAE is poised to become a frontrunner in the global mobile phone market.

The Lava range of mobiles are distributed by Sharaf Electronics and available at all leading electronics retail outlets across the region.

The initial offering from the Lava range includes highly sophisticated dual SIM mobile phones, including the award-winning Iris and Discover series of handsets. – TradeArabia News Service