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Shifting Gears

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Manish
New Update

The Indian handset market is going through a rough phase irrespective of its scale and expertise. Global as well as domestic handset players are seeing a fierce competition in the domestic turf which has compelled many players to explore different avenues to enhance their topline. One case in point is Micromax.

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The homegrown handset players was a brand to reckon with couple of years back but in the last few quarters, it has seen itself bleeding though it has not left any store unturned to bring innovations and come out with ever new products understanding the users demands. Still, as per VOICE&DATA estimates, the company plunged 14% to register revenue of `1,978 crore in FY12 compared to `2,289 crore in FY11.

The company now forayed into producing domestic consumer appliances and to start with they launched LED TV in the Indian market. The timing was perfect to launch just before the festive season when the demand for those products are all-time high and the telecom firm is known for its competitive pricing.

The entry-level TV is priced at `15,990 with product sizes ranging from 24-55”. The once-upon-a-time-hugely-successful mobile phone company, it seems, read its competitors pretty right.

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All the 6 models launched by the company feature high-definition picture format which support all video resolution. The new LED is powered by AVEA (Audio Visual Entertainment Architecture). The company said that it realized that most LED TVs lag in terms of sound output.

The new series bring a fresh level of enjoyment in consumer's living room which will be adorned with elegant designs and rich features of the TV. They have confidence of replicating their success with revolutionizing the smartphone market in India of their LED product range.

“At Micromax, our mission is to provide our customers with a complete experience across all screens as we aim to become the screen partners for our consumers. The confidence our customers have placed in our mobile and tablet business encouraged us to enter the large screen business,” says Rajesh Agarwal, managing director and co-founder, Micromax while launching the range of TVs in the Indian market.

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The Move

The company has set up 1 lakh sq ft manufacturing facility spread in 5-acre land in Rudrapur at Uttarakhand which is capable of making 2,000 LED TV units per day. It is also investing `100 crore in the plant. The company expects a market share of 8-10% in the LED TV segment in the next 2 years and is targeting revenue of 5-8% this fiscal from its venture into the LED TV segment.

“We are still in the process of augmenting the manufacturing facility and are looking to invest over `100 crore over a period of 3 years. We have set up 1 lakh sq ft of manufacturing facility spread over 5 acres with a production capacity of 2,000 units per day at Rudrapur,” said Agarwal.

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The company is looking at tier-1 and -2 households which aspire to have a better and smart TV viewing experience but cannot afford. The company has tied-up exclusively with BrightPoint as its national distributor.

The retail chain will help reach out to 170 cities and build a strong consumer connect. Micromax plans to introduce its offerings initially in the 9 key states, ie, Delhi, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Gujarat. For the after sales service, the company has plans to have its presence in the target states and they already have 202 centers catering to the need of its consumers.

No doubt, it's a bold move by the handset firm but it certainly is not going to be a cakewalk for the firm to replicate the success it saw in its mobile device business as the hunger and passion of acquiring a mobile cannot be compared to that of having a TV. And, you perhaps do not require a TV set for each of your family member.

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