Micromax has been surpassed by Chinese phonemakers in India. There is only one way to make a comeback

Micromax, the truly Make In India phonemaker was at the pinnacle of success just two years back when it was the second largest smartphone maker in India with 16.22% market share. With a wide variety of phones, it was gradually shedding off ‘cheap phone’ tag it had achieved over years. However just two springs later, in the first quarter of 2017, Micromax’s position has been captured by Chinese smartphone makers.

In terms of market share, Micromax sits at the 5^th position. Samsung, Vivo, Xiaomi and Itel occupy the first four positions in the market. In his conversation with The Economic Times, Micromax co-founder Rahul Sharma believes, it’s not the Chinese invaders in smartphone market that ate away the business of them, rather the ‘too fast’ shift from 3G to 4G is to be blamed.

"We were caught in our own web of 2G and 3G while the rivals were completely on 4G,” Sharma told ET.

Micromax 3.0

"What you will see over the next few months will be Micromax 3.0,” he told the ET. He added that demonetisation dealt a crippling blow to the plans of the company to make a grand comeback during last Diwali season. An overemphasis on the sub-Rs 10,000 price band turned out to be Micromax's Achilles Heel as it was a predominantly cash market.

"It was our sweet spot as retailers used to sell more on cash,” he said adding that the company started switching to a 4G portfolio from last November and it took it six months to make the transition.

While the comeback wouldn’t be that easy, Shubhodip Pal, chief marketing and commercial officer of Micromax has plans to reach out to consumers with location-specific strategies as one size- fits-all does not apply to Indian market anymore. "We have mapped the market at a very granular level, right from a city to town to a district,” Pal told ET.

"There's always a lull before the storm,” Sharma told the ET. Micromax is now focusing more on the mid-premium segment (Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000), loading handsets with more features, rolling out more affordable 4G smartphones, beefing up the distribution network and streamlining customer service.