It
can
be
safely
said
that
there
is
no
one
who
has
a
better
ear
for
music
other
than
T-Series'
head-honcho
Bhushan
Kumar.
Ever
since
he
took
over
the
reigns
of
the
company,
T-Series
as
a
brand
has
only
grown
from
strength
to
strength.
The
company
has
also
been
at
the
forefront
of
innovations
as
it
launched
pre-loaded
memory
cards,
USB
drives
last
year.
Now,
T-Series
is
all
set
to
enter
yet
another
new
space
that
of
the
mobile
phone
market
with
T-Series
mobile
phones.
We
got
in
touch
with
Mr.Bhushan
Kumar
who
shed
some
more
light
on
his
plans
for
T-Series
Mobile
Phones.
It's
heard
that
you
are
gearing
up
to
launch
T-Series
mobile
phones
in
a
big
way
early
next
year.
Could
you
elaborate
a
bit
on
that?
Actually
we
had
a
soft
launch
of
T-Series
mobile
phones
sometime
in
June
this
year.
It
was
more
like
a
Test
Marketing
for
our
brand
of
mobile
phones
and
we
got
a
very
good
response.
In
fact
without
any
major
promotion
and
publicity
campaign
we
sold
close
to
100000
handsets.
Buoyed
by
the
response,
we
are
now
going
the
full
hog
to
launch
our
brand
of
T-Series
mobile
phones
from
January
2011.
This
time
we
would
have
a
proper
publicity
and
promotional
campaign
with
T.V.
ads,
print
ads,
hoardings
etc.
to
create
the
necessary
awareness.
We
are
looking
at
a
Rs.
400
crore
turnover
from
this
business
in
the
very
first
year
and
our
whole
team
is
very
confident
that
we
should
be
able
to
achieve
the
target.
Are
the
mobile
phones
available
in
GSM
or
CDMA?
As
of
now
it's
on
GSM
but
we'll
be
soon
also
launching
CDMA
phones.
How
did
the
idea
to
diversify
into
the
mobile
handset
business
come
to
your
mind?
I
don't
look
it
as
a
diversification;
it's
more
like
an
extension
of
our
existing
business
itself.
Today
music
is
hugely
listened
to
on
mobile
phones.
The
mobile
phone
is
like
hardware
to
play
music.
Most
people
listen
to
music
on
their
mobile
rather
than
even
investing
in
a
CD
player.
Music
on
mobiles
is
a
big
business
and
we
have
been
actively
involved
in
this
area
with
Hungama
Mobile
as
our
digital
partners
for
a
long
time
now.
We've
been
doing
lots
of
stuff
in
this
area
such
as
launching
pre-loaded
memory
cards
and
USB
drives
and
have
now
come
up
with
the
idea
to
sell
music
with
hardware
(in
this
case-the
mobile
phone)
at
an
affordable
cost.
I
had
this
idea
in
my
mind
for
many
months
and
I
in
fact
even
bounced
off
this
idea
to
Mr.
Neeraj
Roy
(CEO
of
Hungama)
and
he
too
suggested
that
this
is
one
space
that
I
should
get
into.
Our
mobiles
will
also
have
pre-loaded
music
which
will
give
the
users
a
wide
variety
of
music
to
listen.
It
will
be
like
a
Music
Phone.
The
idea
is
to
sell
music
with
hardware
(in
this
case-the
mobile
phone)
at
an
affordable
cost.
How
are
the
handsets
priced?
The
pricing
is
very
affordable.
The
basic
range
starts
from
approx
Rs.1200
-Rs.
1500.
Then
there
are
also
phones
in
the
segment
of
Rs.2200
-
Rs.2500
which
come
with
pre-loaded
music.
We
would
also
be
looking
at
launching
hi-end
phones
in
the
days
to
come.
How
many
variants
/
models
of
T-Series
mobile
phones
are
currently
available
in
the
market?
Right
now,
we
have
around
6
-7
models
but
as
I
said,
we
are
launching
a
whole
range
of
new
models
in
January.
As
far
as
availability
is
concerned,
are
you
planning
to
retail
the
phones
only
in
the
big
metros
or
across
India?
By
January
2011,
the
mobile
phones
will
be
available
all
over
India.
We
are
not
targeting
any
one
particular
zone
as
we
want
to
make
our
presence
felt
across
the
country.
For
any
brand
to
find
a
widespread
appeal
across
the
country
it
takes
time
and
we
know
that
it's
going
to
take
a
while
for
us
to
reach
all
over
too
but
we
are
up
for
the
challenge.
Bhushan
Kumar
Would
the
promotional
campaign
scheduled
to
commence
in
January
feature
any
leading
Bollywood
star?
No...our
initial
promotion
and
planning
will
focus
on
Music
being
the
main
Celebrity.
We
don't
really
need
the
presence
of
a
star
or
a
well-known
face
at
least
in
the
first
phase
of
launch.
We
will
be
integrating
music
in
a
way
like
no
one
else
can
and
Hungama
is
helping
us
in
that.
A
lot
of
handsets
do
come
with
pre-loaded
music
but
there
isn't
much
thinking
gone
into
the
choice
of
songs,
music
etc.
Since
music
is
our
forte,
we
will
put
in
a
lot
of
thought
and
selecting
the
right
mix
of
songs
and
music
(from
T-Series'
huge
library)
for
our
mobile
phones.
In
fact
as
I
told
you
earlier,
without
doing
any
publicity
and
promotions,
we
were
able
to
sell
around
100000
handsets
during
the
test
marketing
which
is
by
itself
is
a
big
feat.
Moreover,
our
handsets
were
sold
at
the
same
counters
where
handsets
by
other
top
players
were
being
retailed.
This
goes
to
show
that
our
brand
name
T-Series
has
helped
in
creating
such
a
pull
for
the
product
and
based
on
the
response
we
are
now
planning
a
big
launch
backed
by
a
solid
marketing
and
promotional
campaign
in
January
2011.
Finally
how
do
you
look
back
at
this
year
2010
which
has
turned
out
to
be
yet
another
super-successful
year
for
T-Series
music-wise?
Yes...this
year
has
been
exceptionally
good
for
us.
It
started
with
3
Idiots
the
music
of
which
released
towards
the
end
of
2009.
The
music
of
films
such
as
Ishqiya,
Housefull,
Once
Upon
A
Time
In
Mumbaai,
Anjaana
Anjaani
all
worked
really
well.
Then
you
had
Dabangg
which
of
course
was
the
biggest
hit
of
them
all.
And
now
we
are
looking
forward
to
end
the
year
on
a
high
with
the
music
of
Tees
Maar
Khan.
Story first published: Tuesday, November 16, 2010, 12:54 [IST]