Micromax to capture 'volume leadership', make aggressive comeback

New Delhi: Homegrown handset major Micromax is making an aggressive comeback in the Indian market, aiming to get its "volume leadership" back as it fends off Chinese rivals like Vivo, Oppo and Xiaomi.

The company is focussing on strengthening its position in the Rs 9,000-15,000 category and aims to garner 10 per cent share in the category over the next six months.

"There were players that had flooded the market with hoardings and offering over the top margins to retailers. The dust is now settling down and this is the right time to bring out what Micromax is known for - innovation," Micromax co- founder Rahul Sharma told PTI.

He added that under the realigned product roadmap, Micromax is focussing on key features like camera, screen, battery and security and will launch a slew of devices that showcase Micromax's "focus on innovation at the right price".

Sharma said the efforts have begun to pay off with the company registering sales of 28.3 lakh devices in July. "We will continue to build on this and get back to the volume leadership that we held till the end of last year. The growth in smartphone numbers will also follow," he said.

At the end of December 2016 quarter, Micromax had 8.8 per cent share of the smartphone market and ranked third after Samsung and Lenovo. However, in the March and June 2017 quarters, Micromax did not feature in the top 5 smartphone players tally.

"We already have a strong play in the Rs 5,000-8,000 category. A big area of focus for us now is the Rs 9,000-15,000 category. This segment accounts for 21 per cent of the market and we want to capture 10 per cent share of this category in the next six months," Sharma said.

Micromax on Tuesday launched its new device Canvas Infinity, priced at Rs 9,999. The device features 18:9 display smartphone that is currently available in high-end devices like Samsung S8 and LG G6.

"This is one of the innovations that we worked on. 18:9 ensures that users get more display space that is useful when they are playing games or watching videos, while ensuring that the handset can be held comfortably," he said.

Sharma added that the company will expand the 'Infinity' display series in the next two months.

The Canvas Infinity features Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor, 3GB RAM, 32GB internal memory (expandable up to 128GB), 16MP front and 13MP rear camera and 2,900 mAh battery. It will be available exclusively on Amazon.in from September 1, 2017.