Here’s one tough budget smartphone in the UAE
dubai — Micromax has heard it all — especially from the doubters. But through it all, they persevered and were able to propel itself to the top of the game in India’s mobile phone sector.
Now, they want to bring that momentum to the UAE.
The Gurgaon, Haryana-headquartered company — in a move akin to HMD Global’s revival of the Nokia 3310 — unveiled the 2017 version of the Canvas 2 in Dubai on Wednesday, as it seeks to carve its own niche in the highlycompetitive smartphone market.
Micromax is no stranger to the UAE, having made its foray into the country in 2010. Ditto for its latest device to a certain extent; the original Canvas 2 was launched in 2012 in India, which was well-received in the country.
The company hopes that with the new iteration of the phone, it will be able to achieve the success it had experienced on its own turf.
Vikas Jain, co-founder of Micromax, said that the Mena is an important market for the company, and they forecast the region to contribute a “large chunk” to its international business in the next two years. Aside from its home market, Micromax is currently present in Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Russia and the Mena.
“We’ve been very successful... and now we’re thinking of how we’ll be able to take it to the next level,” Jain said at the event.
The company has a vision of becoming one of the top five mobility brands in the world. “We are working very hard to build a very strong and deeply-penetrated distribution network in the region that will help capture a significant market share,” Sandeep Saihgal from Micromax partner channel said.
Also at the event were Sameer Kakar, vice-president and head of international business at Micromax, Viren Jagdev, business head for the MEA at Micromax, and tchannls’ Ashraf Fawakherji.
The 2012 Canvas 2, which Micromax says “changed the dynamic” in the Indian smartphone market, was given a fresher — and tougher — take this year.
The new Canvas 2 comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 5, the first smartphone to offer this technology for the mass telecom consumer. It offers protection from drops for up to 1.6 metres, offering up to four times more durability.
John Bayne, vice-president and general manager of Corning, said that the company was “pleased” to be partnering with Micromax to bring its “superior drop performance” to the UAE market.
The new Canvas 2 also has a five-inch HD screen, a 1.3GHz quad-core processor, 3GB of RAM, 16GB of storage that is expandable with up to a 64GB microSD card, 13MP and 5MP cameras, fingerprint recognition and a battery that can last up to 11 hours. It will be available across the Mena from July 22 for Dh499.
—alvin@khaleejtimes.com