Huawei inks pact with Micromax to expand retail presence

Chinese tech giant Huawei has entered into a strategic distribution partnership with homegrown handset maker Micromax, a move that will help the former strengthen its presence in the offline retail segment in India. Huawei had started selling its smartphones in India via the online route. Last year, it partnered with Croma to enter

the offline retail channels and later inked a similar pact with Poorvika that operates a large chain of stores in southern part of the country. Huawei India Consumer Business Group Vice President (Huawei Brand) Rishi Kishor Gupta, recently, said, “We are already present in 200 sales points through our existing partnerships. The tie-up with Micromax will give us access to a strong network of 1.25 lakh outlets across 40,000 pin codes.”

Without disclosing the financial details of the partnership, Gupta reportedly said the partnership is aimed at a long-term association under a commercial agreement, primarily driven by sales and purchases. The move assumes significance as Huawei faces a ban from the US government. In May, the US government added Huawei to an “entity list” of companies barred from receiving the Us-made hardware and software components without permission from Washington. US President Donald Trump in Juneend said the US companies could sell equipment to Huawei but there is no known regulatory development after his statement to end the ban. Google, which supports Huawei’s smartphones with its Android operating system, had said it would continue to support existing Huawei smartphones. The partnership with Micromax will allow Huawei to focus on product and technology development, while opening up a new revenue channel for Micromax that was a dominant player in the Indian smartphone market a few years ago. The pact will not bar Micromax from launching its own devices in the Indian market. ■