Micromax revamp: This Indian giant will need more guts than nuts

Watch our video of Micromax Canvas 6 Pro 

It was also the first time that the company’s four co-founders were seen making an appearance together, albeit a brief one on the stage. For most in the media and even consumers, Rahul Sharma is the face they have grown to associate with Micromax. Sharma is also the promoter of Yu Televentures, which is seen as a Micromax subsidiary, and has had some success in 2015 thanks to devices like Yureka, Yuphoria, etc.

The four co-founders of Micromax.

Not just the founders, Micromax’s presentation included videos from other senior executives within the company, detailing their college education (a Columbia here, a Wharton there), their overall industry experience and their version of why Micromax was a leading innovator.

For Micromax, the event was about sending a message. To use their tagline: it was about showing that they have “Nuts and Guts”, because truly which company launches 19 products in one go, 20 if you count the ‘Around’ service which will soon be part of all Micromax phones. Incidentally, Around was earlier exclusive to YU devices and was called Around YU.

New devices aside, Micromax now wants to sell its devices on its own platform, located at the website “store.micromaxinfo.com”. Currently, only the Canvas 6 Pro is listed for pre-bookings, and the e-commerce platform draws a blank if you try and click on any other link like say mobiles or tablets.

And that really says a lot. No Internet company can have a website, that is well half in beta mode. Micromax insists it has revamped itself, that it wants to be the top 5 smartphone player in the world by 2020, that all its smartphones will be #MadeinIndia by 2017. But given that the flagship is missing from the ‘new’ e-commerce store shows that its efforts are far from complete.

Also see: Micromax Canvas 6: Here’s how it stacks up against Redmi Note 3, Le 1s and Moto G Turbo

Plus on spec-to-spec comparison, Micromax’s Canvas 6 has tough competition to beat. It is also a tad expensive compared to what the rest of the market has to offer in the same Rs 10-15k price range. And this goes against the grain of what India would associate with.

Incidentally, Around was earlier exclusive to YU devices and was called Around YU.

For Micromax, the need to revamp comes at a time when the smartphone market is at the crossroads. Gartner says globally the smartphone market will grow only 7 per cent in 2016. “The double-digit growth era for the global smartphone market has come to an end,” said Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner.

China and North America smartphone sales are on pace to be flat in 2016, while India is the only market expected to show double digit growth for the next two years. Which is why don’t be surprised if more and more Chinese players fight aggressively in India. And Micromax is fighting to protect this territory.

It is still the number two player in India at the end of 2015, but as IDC noted in its report, “shipments fell 12.1 per cent year-over-year and 23.5 per cent over previous quarter,” for Micromax. According to IDC, Micromax “is facing tremendous competition from both home-grown and China-based vendors at different price points under US$200.”

Xiaomi, Lenovo, LeEco, Oppo, Vivo are just some of the brands that have flooded the Indian market in recent times. Lenovo with its strong Moto and K3 Note series captured the third spot in the Indian market at the end of Q4 2015, with an 11 per cent market share, just a few percentage points behind Micromax.

Also read: Micromax reboots self with new logo; Launches flagship Canvas 6 series

Xiaomi is another brand that managed to create some strong buzz around itself in India. Plus it helps that Xiaomi’s global VP is Hugo Barra, known to many from his Google days, whose presentations are only around their phones, stressing on each and every technical detail, sans any song or dance. The Chinese startup has also been quick to realise that it needs to gain big in India; we’ve seen Redmi Note 3 launch, followed quickly by the premium flagship Mi 5, India being the only country after China to get this device.

And the Chinese players are learning from Micromax too, especially when it comes to sponsoring cricket. Vivo is now an official IPL sponsor, while Oppo is the global partner for the ICC till 2020. Incidentally, both are in the list of top five smartphone vendors list in China based on the latest IDC data.

So Micromax will need more than simply guts and nuts to attain glory. The Chinese players have their eye set on India, and for Micromax to rise to the challenge, it will need more than just a flagship in a glass case.

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