A Record Growth
Affordability has always been a key strength of Micromax devices and it banked on the same through its aggressive marketing campaign
Micromax recorded a spectacular 115% growth in FY2013-14, driven by a booming smartphone market in India. The company claimed No 2 spot after Samsung in smartphones. It is ranked No 3 in overall handset market trailing just after Samsung and Nokia. As far as other product categories are concerned, it is ranked No 3 in India data card market and India tablet market during FY2013-14 with 14.5% and 9.5% market share, respectively, in terms of unit shipments. During FY2013-14, it expanded its presence across the SAARC markets including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal and entered Russia during FY2013-14. Getting Hollywood actor Hugh Jackman as its brand ambassador was a big win for the company, during the fiscal.
Affordability has always been a key strength of Micromax devices and it banked on the same through its aggressive marketing campaign. Micromax further strengthened its Canvas and Bolt series smartphone portfolio by launching models like A34, A67, Canvas Doodle, Canvas 2, Canvas 2 Plus during 2013-14 which were a huge hit among end consumers. It also tied up with operators such as Tata Docomo, and Aircel to offer bundled data, voice and content packages. Apart from this, it also tied with MTS to launch a CDMA and GSM dual SIM smartphone called Canvas Blaze and also created the first ever phone that pays its consumers to watch ads - MAd phone. It launched aggressive digital and print media marketing campaign along with concerts to focus on youth of the country which is the primary target audience of the company.
On the distribution front it expanded its set-up of super stockists, distributors and retailers and at the same time tiedup with popular e-commerce portals in order to reach wider range of audience within the country. Its products are also available in all leading mobile stores like Croma, Ezone, Next, Reliance Digital, The Mobile Store, etc., It has also expanded its exclusive experience zones throughout the country.
However, going forward the company will face stiff competition from Chinese handset players who were once the ODM (Original Design Manufacturer) partners of local handset vendors and are familiar with the strengths of the home grown brands like pricing and distribution and can use the same to their advantage. As average selling price of smartphone is declining and global brands like Samsung, Nokia, Motorola make their way in entry level smartphone segment, Micromax knows that pricing and affordability will no longer be the sustainable factor in India smartphone market. To counter the same, it needs to innovate quickly and at the same time ramp up its after sales service in the country especially in tier 2 and tier 3 cities.