As we had pointed out earlier that the tech sector and especially the smartphone and mobile gadget segment has become one of the most unpredictable and high activity zone with one or the other is propping up surprises every alternate day and creating new equations for the smartphone world. While the whole world is moving towards the new age smartphones which is diminishing the difference between a computer and a phone. Tech companies are moving to stuff in everything possible in the phone. In this race every other day some or the other company is busy coming up with a new smartphone claiming it to be the best among the lot and quickly gaining popularity either for the features or the price tag. Just a few days ago in an article titled: âXiaomi â The New Emerging Star In The Smartphone Worldâ we showed how a local Chinese name Xiaomi claimed the third position in the smartphone race globally by selling its phone only in the home turf. Now news is that Micromax an Indian smartphone honcho is about to repeat the same feet. Letâs take a closer look at how things are working out for the Indian smartphone major.
The Max Factor of Micromax
Micromax esteemed to be Indiaâs number 2 mobile handset maker plans to take the same route as Xiaomi did. According to the market news Micromax is about to launch a whole new line of products sporting the brand name "Yu" which will be exclusively sold through ecommerce channels and not to hit the shelves of the conventional stores starting from December 2014.
The first product, to be launched under a newly floated wholly owned unit, Yu Tele-ventures, will be a smartphone with operating system from U.S.-based Cyanogen through which the company aims to move beyond the business of mobile phone hardware that has become more or less standardized in the global market.
An enthusiastic Rahul Sharma founder member of Micromax said, âThe smartphone which will be pitched as an affordable product for consumers, will be launched in India, and then in developed markets, given its sophistication.â
"We're targeting all tech enthusiasts who will be able to bootstrap the device and play with it," he said. Bootstrapping means the smartphone being rooted, after which the warranty on the smartphone becomes null and void regardless of when it is bought. Sharma added âMicromax will continue to honor the warranty period despite the bootstrapping thus giving the flexibility to consumers of shifting from one carrier to the other without the worry of losing warranty on unlocked phones and can move from country to country with much ease.
Users will be able to make hundreds of customizations on their new device, whose features will be declared on Yu's official website which is slated to go live towards the end of November 2014.
Cynogen is the producer of CyanogenMod, a modified version of Android that is a well-known alternative operating system and is currently installed in over 12 million devices across the globe. The OS allows the flexibility of a lot of personalization and allows users to change the look and feel of the user interface to suit their needs.
Sharma also added that besides a range of devices that will get unveiled within a year, the company will come out with other innovative products including smart bands and smart shirts among others. Led by Sharma himself, Yu Televentures is a 100%-owned subsidiary of Micromax and will have a separate organizational structure and will even compete against the parent companiesâ brands.
Analysts worldwide tracking the smartphone market of India the worldâs second-largest population also feels that the path adopted by Micromax will actually take the tech market to a new level beyond the smartphone arena which is already quite cramped up owing to the global and local companies all trying to have their slice of the smartphone frenzy.
Going by the market reports of Counterpoint Technology, for the July-September quarter, Micromax stands at the second position in India in terms of its shipped count in overall with 14.5% share, trailing behind the number one Samsung (SSNLF, Financial) which had a 15.1% share. In the smartphone segment, the indigenous brand holds 20.4% market cap compared to the global leader Samsung's 25.1% market share in India.
Our take
Micromax is moving in the right direction in keeping with the current trend into a more innovative tech space, and it might not be a surprise if it surpasses the global smartphone leaders in the number game. Also it has the advantage of home ground popularity which holds the second largest population in the world after China. It would be best to wait and watch the company when it rolls out its next generation tech product line and watch how they perform in the increasingly tech friendly consumer world.
