Not many brands get a second chance, but Micromax is one of the very few lucky ones. It will feed support from fans and a lot of efforts from the management to rise from the ashes again.
When a brand arrives in a new market, its first task is to study and respond to the existing competition. Then it goes through the grind of carving out its identity by constantly competing for market share. However, for Micromax, things are different. Having started operations in 2000, the company became one of two top smartphone brands in India with even a sub-brand called Yu. In some ways it created a segment of phone users in India that was happy with functional features. What followed was a deluge as Chinese phone makers changed their strategy. Once a household name, Micromax also got into selling consumer durables like LED TVs, laptops, ACs, audio accessories and other products that form the smartphone ecosystem apart from introducing electronic bikes to the Indian market. However, the going got tough for them as Chinese phone makers came calling in numbers. Micromax is now making a come back having lost its position as a leader of India’s growing smartphone market. Then it faced competition from Chinese brands such as Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo and LeEco. The situation is much the same now, though competition could just be stiffer. These companies bought smartphones with latest technology and invested heavily in R&D that ensured that they stayed ahead from the rest through innovation. They were ready to make investments in terms of time and money to build the brand, offer value for money devices, create a demand and provide best in class support systems. Micromax, however, lacked in almost all of these. It did continue to rake in numbers but maximum sales came from the rural market where the Chinese had not reached. Gradually Micromax’s strategy of selling rebranded Chinese devices also backfired as people now had access to better devices at similar prices in India.
