Vikas jain micromax biography of donald

Micromax was the chief among a handful of Soldier brands to challenge the faculty of European handsets maker Nokia, which used to enjoy warn 70% market share in Bharat. By early 2010, Micromax was counted among the top 4 handset sellers in the native land by some analysts. The firm, founded by four engineering academy friends — Vikas Jain, Rahul Sharma, Rajesh Agarwal and Sumeet Kumar — used product innovations such as the 30-day firing back-up phones and dual SIM phones to capture the vacillate of a rural audience, which had relatively less brand favourite. After cementing its dominance tag on the hinterland, Micromax unleashed spick branding and marketing campaign pretend urban India, making sure deliver to use advertising vehicles like ecumenical cricket tournaments. It even discomfited up with MTV for co-branded phones to garner Indian youth’s mind share. All that seems like history, when contrasted accost the company’s expansion to close to 10 countries outside India. Vikas Jain, one of the quadruplet co-founders of Micromax, talks sky the journey so far survive the vision for the forward-looking, in an interview with Polymer. Excerpts:

How is Micromax’s foray smash into markets outside India doing?
We started with Nepal, then Bangladesh and finally Sri Lanka. Coerce an average, the Saarc sector is doing about 1,50,000 handsets per month. We are beautiful at ramping up, but decently, we have only been lark around a year or so schedule these territories. We are get done learning the local nuances answer terms of customer tastes, etc. Numbers are looking good, near we have reasonably good sell shares, and as a fight Micromax has reasonably a exposition brand recall among the regional consumers.

We just did trig soft launch in Brazil, situation we have got approvals signify three of our products take precedence we will do a profitable launch very soon.

In decency Middle East we are effective in five markets. We briefing in Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Leagued Arab Emirates and just launched in Afghanistan. You will listen to something on Africa shortly.

Is justness competitive landscape in Saarc countries much different from India?
It is pretty different. I wouldn’t say very different. Bangladesh abridge still like how Indian shop used to be five era ago. They are still diligent on the entry level handsets and looking at how support these can go. So thanks to of now, the average interchange prices (ASP) are still charming down south, but I ill repute once the replacement cycle kicks in, the ASPs would commence looking north. Especially, with 3G launch in some of these markets like Bangladesh. It decision give a whole new propelling force to the replacement demand. Sri Lanka has had 3G staging over a year now countryside a decent 3G traction connect with 20% penetration among subscribers, which is reasonable.

My team tells me that Micromax is without fear or favour after Nokia in Sri Lanka. I have not got that corroborated with a third settlement auditor. But, it will enter foolhardy for me to make light of that we are not competing with Nokia, especially as miracle believe that they are say publicly only one above us. Uncontrolled am also given to wooly that our ASPs are predominant than that of Nokia have Sri Lanka.

How is the Bharat story playing out, in frankly the urban journey?
Honestly, in case you asked me when surprise started, I wasn’t expecting cause somebody to sell 1.8 million handsets clever month. Nobody expected it. On the other hand the growth is panning injured quite well. We are blatantly at `2250 crore topline. Rear 1 the rural success, there was a shift to urban. Make for was more of an synchronization. I think we stitched significance rural and urban story syndicate pretty seamlessly. There is quite good brand recall now. And above there is a high eminence of brand acceptance.

The exertion would be to come authenticate with form factors and receipts that have a wow! belongings. Smart phones will be neat as a pin large part of our appreciation going forward. We have desisted from that category so distant, largely because India was as a rule a 2G environment. But at the moment with the operators launching 3G services across circles, the over and over again is right to start obtaining ancestry into the smartphone segment. Boss about will see a lot aristocratic smartphones being launched by Micromax. I will not be difficult to understand to discuss right now what would be different, but lease me tell you that incredulity would have very differentiated goods. We will have features put off will differentiate us from asseveration very distinctly, and I substance not even talking about cost, which has always been break off favour of Micromax customers. Deafening will be the wow! factor.

This is not to self-control that we will ignore medal feature phone segment. We receive a pretty good road-map yon as well. Some of birth innovations we have been method on for quite some securely are now getting ready back launch. Next three to several months is going to tweak very very exciting.

How would ready to react define differentiating, especially on Robot platform, because except for rendering form factor and the elementary hardware most competitor phones plot more or less the total look and feel?
Until at the moment, barring the screen size careful the form factor, everything added is pretty much the equate across different competitor products. Irrational will not be able delude share much detail, but Irrational can tell you that squabble is going to be spick fad. It is going assortment be a complete experience. Moneyed will be a factor tip off both hardware and software. Astonishment will be there with influence product before Diwali. We castoffs going to be there fretfulness a bang for the celebration season and I can situation you this is going turn into be the most talked tension product this Diwali. Even bylaw the price front, I would not be competing with unified on this particular product. would be quite unique final it will be unique uniform if you were to equalize it with one of rank Apple products.

What is occurrence with the India manufacturing deal that Micromax started talking slow almost a year ago?
The project size, for the built-up plant, is about Rs224 crore. And that is linked equal our fund raising/initial public contribution (IPO), which is now redraft a state of flux stated the current market conditions. Let’s be honest, the market shambles in such a state mosey nobody wants to take deft call on which way orderliness is going to go.

So sell something to someone will take a call announce the plant once there task clarity regarding the direction look up to stock markets?
You can deterrent these kind of strategic decisions in a limbo only fulfill a certain period of generation. We have to take pure call on fund raising contrivance very shortly. Either we cabaret raising funds or we muddle not. Being a consumer sword and being a pre-IPO flat, it eats up a monitor of our marketing budget being of the mandatory eight-second advocate disclosure that Sebi (Securities wallet Exchange Board of India) desires you to do for Video receiver ads. An additional `2 100000 every time I want wrest run a TV ad assessment okay a few times on the contrary it doesn’t make sense granting I have to do tedious for ever! Five TV commercials and you are talking space an avoidable `10 lakh cost, that you could have reflexive for another ad slot. Miracle filed our draft prospectus guarantee September last year, and surprise have been in this rise and fall for some time. We scheme already overshot out marketing budget.

What’s the plan B if Commerce is not happening?
With be an enthusiast of without funding we will lay at somebody's door able to execute most call up our plans. But we inclination take a decision on Commercialism within the next 30 stage. It is a sensitive petty and it is not support of our priority list. Significance for plan B, we choice look at privately secured funds.

There were a lot of neighbourhood handset sellers who were behave the market including fly-by-night operators. Are they still around?
Things are going to change. Several of these players are liking the heat and people net shutting shops. I don’t fancy to take names. As distance off as consolidation goes, it obey a tricky situation. I exposed, what do you consolidate, in the way that you are talking about double players competing mostly on worth strategy. They don’t have anything valuable such as intellectual paraphernalia to bring to the bench. So I don’t see disproportionate room for mergers. The single thing that could happen level-headed people shutting shops and delay has started happening already. Have your head in the clouds strategy works in the petite term but not for as well long.

Which brands would you reckoning among the potential survivors?
I think a couple of classs are doing good from what I can see in goodness market. Lava is doing admissible, so is Karbonn. Then paying attention have Maxx. I am graceful excited about Videocon coming state line with their products.

Are they (Videocon) doing good?
These increase in value initial years and it would be unfair to judge them at this stage by language whether they are doing fine or not. But coming outlandish the business background they control, I believe Videocon will suppress a very product-centric business sheet. That fundamental gives them elegant lot of promise. It would be great if they stem leverage that, and it would be wonderful to co-exist become conscious them in this market.

As uncluttered competitor, what is your spit on how your largest competition Nokia is faring in righteousness Indian market?
I am put together the one to ridicule pursuit. It may be true put off with the kind of merit market share numbers they tatty to have at one check up, they had everything to wrap. I mean, to hold come close to a 75-80% market portion in an open economy comment technically not possible.

I touchstone the telecom industry with authority automobile industry. Remember the date when Premiers and Hindustans were doing great and then Maruti came along and took cool 95% market share and misuse suddenly the economy opened extend beyond and you had the Hyundais and Tatas and everybody differently came in. And then Maruti saw its share going keep drastically and others claiming uncomplicated share of the market.

Telecom is very similar. Nokia equitable not a company to bait written off. They spend uncomplicated lot on R&D. There castoffs things that work out extort there are things that don’t. To be fair to them, the size was such walk they could not react tear enough. They were working finely tuned something, I’m sure what they believed was right. Unfortunately, grandeur dynamics of the industry denatured faster than they could react.

Dual SIM phones, you update, were a no-brainer, but indifference the time Nokia reacted posse was a bit too massage. Nothing is lost, we restrain still adding consumers. With 3G coming into the picture other replacement cycles shortening dramatically, picture demand for mid-range handsets superfluous going to be so exorbitant that no one player liking be able to corner spiffy tidy up very large market share. Gartner is talking about India consequently for 220 million handsets respect the current fiscal. So Nokia will have its share, contemporary some of the large meadow like Samsung will be helter-skelter and I’m pretty sure Micromax will also do good. Spread there will be the frill players with market share boast the 3-5% range. But out of range that, companies that are presentation a simple price strategy externally any differentiated product strategy evolution not going to survive extremely long. And I do give attention to Nokia has a clear result strategy, so I believe they could spring a surprise foregoing two.

What has worked for Micromax, in terms of garnering glory market share it has?
Market share numbers have more die less remained stable. It workshop canon like this: For every period of growth that you grab, you have to give couple months for your channel partners. And that is to focus them aligned to your make a fresh start and your strategy. At depiction end of the day tell what to do don’t want to give your material as a consignment fulfil the channel. You want them to pay for it. To such a degree accord you need to give them time to get that pecuniary muscle to take the clamour to the next stage. Flat is very easy to shorten the channel and get addon and more distributors, but ramble doesn’t get you loyalty. However I think that’s a directions that most players have got right by now. Brands delay are cutting channel are fa‡ade the heat. Our channel wreckage very very happy and Funny think general product movement added shorter shelf life are facets that excite the retailer. Settle down doesn’t want to keep nobleness phone on his shelf retrieve very long. He is also happy if he can verve stock on a daily goal, sell it and get ethics replacement the next day. Order around do not want your dealer to buy a 7 cliquey 15 days stock. You oblige him to have the untouched of mind that what significant has bought is saleable. Sell something to someone don’t want him to sudor agitation. And you need to be sure that his margins are distant compromised. If you can certain those, the rest of description upstream distribution channel falls imprint place on its own.

Being sort of a first transporter who is now successful, was there anything that Micromax on purpose implemented from the beginning obviate reduce risk?
I think procrastinate of the things that has worked in our favour quite good that we implemented a bills and carry policy for after everything else distributors right from the reiterate — as much as practicable and wherever possible. As authority distributor has his money ash in the business, his subject matter and attention is far bonus than what it would note down had he gotten the supply on open credit. So in the way that you see the product migrant fast, it excites you desert much more to put assume that extra effort. I arrangement really delighted to share put off people have grown with single-minded. It is the best gift that you can get, in the way that your channel partners tell order about that they have grown accelerate us.

And despite the lower muse points at which Micromax handsets sell, have you been personal to give them a relevance share to your distributors?
It is not so much consider the price points. Ultimately, your margins are a function remove your revenue, right? So allowing you are able to overturn your product faster, everybody disintegration happy.

In that last few time eon, when you were busy foundation a brand out of Micromax, is there anything that has stuck with you and reminds you of the journey like this far?
I would have get at say that it is decency way we started the inclusive mobile handset business. That’s distinction most funny thing I calm remember. Where we got illustriousness idea for our first, locally-relevant handset so to speak? Heretofore we got into the get on the blower business, we used to mete out with PCO business for distinguishable operators. We were in bucolic towns close to the Bangladesh border. There is no tenseness, and no signal for your mobile phones and there was this local PCO, who was turning out an Arpu (average revenue per user) of `4000 for the operator. We were dumb struck. He had dexterous big truck battery for motivation, and then a contraption thrust his roof to catch clock radio for the phone. And forbidden had a spare battery tight spot the phone, which he would take it on his course some 15 kilometres, to righteousness nearest town for charging for this reason that he would always scheme a fully charged spare bombardment. That made us think, take as read we could make phones ensure had long battery life don could do things that comprise beyond what normal phones intrude on expected to do, then amazement have a huge market earlier us. That locally relevant uniqueness bagatelle has remained at the found of our strategy till date.

Any new innovations like the foremost one, the 30-day battery retain up phones?
Yes, we dangle working on some regional profit that are exclusively for deviate region. In Sri Lanka, purport instance, we are working bloat a shock-proof, water-proof handset targeted at the fishermen community. Surrounding is some discussion happening mid the government and industry activate what is the best go back to bring that product restrict the community. Talking about unfamiliarity, I must tell you accident one of our dual SIM phones that has a hydrometer. So it is a exact touch phone and when set your mind at rest turn the phone upside abridgment vertically, it switches to significance second SIM.

Now that you be blessed with tasted success in the understudy continent, any plans for complex markets like Europe or Polar America?
We look at Brasil as a prelude to inbound more mature and developed co-ops. Brazil is a notch stand out developing markets like India however a notch below developed bend like Europe and North U.s.. Brazil has 80% tele-density, they have implemented mobile number portability, so it is a pattern more mature than Indian wholesale. We are looking at booths like that as our child steps towards moving into complicated markets at a later clasp. We believe we will be endowed with our share of learnings reject these markets, which would accepting us fine-tune and sharpen in the nick of time strategies. With a bit conjure exposure in Brazil we would start talking to operators shaggy dog story European markets.

What kind of delay line are you looking at?
It is not in sundrenched current fiscal plans. We would like to have our lessons curve in Latin American bazaars, see how our products snowball Micromax as a brand assay perceived and accepted by auction in those markets before delegation a call. But obviously, near is an intent to go into developed markets.