Micromax made a splash when they hit the market in India with reasonably-priced, decently-specced phones that offered near-stock Android experiences or Cyanogen OS. While the Indian firm had been around in some form or another since 2000, it wasn’t until 2014 that they started up their YU budget flagship lineup in partnership with Cyanogen, Inc. The partnership yielded a number of smartphones, such as the Yu Yureka and the new Yu Yunicorn, featuring 4GB of RAM and a Mediatek Helio P10 processor. In an emerging market like India, this sounds like a recipe for success. Recently, however, they’ve been boxed out by Chinese rivals sweeping into India and besting them in terms of specs and price. In response to losing market share, Micromax has leveled accusations of dumping unsold inventory elsewhere into the Indian market for lower than usual prices at its Chinese rivals.
Currently the largest local smartphone manufacturer in India, Micromax is in no danger of being pushed into obscurity at the moment, but the threat of losing more ground to Chinese OEMs invading the Indian market is very real, especially after the recent departure of their CEO, Vineet Taneja. With rivals like Xiaomi, LeEco and Lenovo moving in fast and hard on the market with phones like the Mi5 and the Le 2 Pro selling for barely above twice the price of local outfits’ budget flagship competitors and offering a much better experience on average, it’s easy to see how they could find a good niche in the top end of the market. Meanwhile, lower-end numbers like the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 and Lenovo A series are matching and even undercutting some local numbers.
Still, many industry insiders and experts are saying that Micromax’s accusations are not only false, but are “an excuse” for their own relatively poor ability to nab continued sales. While Micromax’s inventory has garnered a large number of loyal fans and captivated the hearts of budget consumers, Chinese phones offering a vastly different and arguably more enjoyable experience, not to mention giants like Samsung and Huawei, are bound to cause some upset in the market. Micromax’s phones also tend to be a bit behind others, on the technological side of things; for example, their current flagship, the Yu Yunicorn, sports a Helio P10 processor, which, while power-friendly, is a bit less of a performance piece than the Helio X10 featured in Redmi Note 2 or the Snapdragon 650 in the Redmi Note 3. While their phones feature fairly good screens, big batteries and enough processing power for most things, higher specs and appealing prices are driving sales of Chinese rivals.