Mobile brand Micromax, today announced the launch of its operations in Russia by extending its product portfolio and services to the users in the country. With a focus on democratizing technologies for the masses, the company aims to have an aggressive plan to make its mark in the Russian mobile handset market re-emphasizing on its vision to offer innovative products and service offerings, which are customized to address the needs of Russian consumers.
Micromax, with its USP of pioneering meaningful innovations based on in-depth consumer understanding, would be operating through a partnership with VVP Group, one of the leading distribution houses in Russia. The partnership would provide good reach for Micromax in the
region with a plan to make Micromax products available across the country, ensuring deeper shelf space and wider outlet spread.
Micromax will be introducing its popular Canvas series of smartphones and Bolt series of smart-feature phones. The company will be launching 14 products in the Russian market in the initial phase, as the brand is already looking at gearing up to be among the Top 4 brands in Russia by 2014. Company aim to having over 60 operational service centers by end of the month and will also have its exclusive service centers in strategic cities in Russia as the brand strengthens its presence across the country.
Commenting on the launch, Rahul Sharma, Co-Founder, Micromax said, “At Micromax, our emphasis has always been to democratize technology for masses around the world through an innovative product portfolio. As we look to take Micromax to key international markets, we are excited to announce our foray into the Russian mobile handset market which has immense potential not only for smartphones and features phones, but also for innovative tablets and data products. Our initial focus in the Russian market is to replicate the success witnessed in our other markets in the last couple of years. We have carved the vision for ourselves to be the 1st Indian hardware brand to be global and set our footprint with Russia as the first developed market to venture into.”
He further added, “We see a growing trend of data consumption through mobile devices in Russia, and we would be initiating partnerships with the leading operators in the region to aim at efficient data consumption on our devices in the coming year”.
Speaking on the occasion, Vasily Sibirtsev, Chairman VVP Group said, “We are very excited to work with Micromax, one of the world’s leading mobile phone brands. Russia is an ideal market for Micromax to bring its innovative product portfolio and services customized for consumers in this market. Our immediate goal will be to build a very strong and robust distribution network to capture a significant share in the Russian mobile handset market. We will be working aggressively to strengthen our presence in the retail space across 9000+ sales points in the country backed by an efficient service infrastructure.”
Amit Mathur, Vice President – International Business, Micromax said “ We believe Micromax products to a promising future in Russia where the smart phone market is booming along with data services. Micromax has studied this market and will continuously introduce products and applications with consumer insights from the Russia to bring forth world-class products to this market. We are happy to have found VVP as our strategic business partner to enter the retail market and will strive to maximize our retail strength going forward.”
The partnership with the VVP Group is a strategic move which would provide wide reach for Micromax in regions of Russia as the group has been associated with some of the leading global smartphone players to help them make a strong presence in Russia. VVP is known for its superior logistics setup, warehouses, retail management system and transportation management systems across the main hubs of Russia which will further help Micromax build its footprint in the country.
VVP group will be working with partners in all existing channels including federal and regional chains, operators, consumer electronics shops and computer shops, online and other sales points in the country.
The company has also tied up with the leading VAS providers in Russia including Odnoklassniki, Russia’s popular social network service; IVI.ru, Russia’s first free video & music service; Viber, the global messaging application; Facebook; Twitter and M!Live giving users access to social connectivity and unlimited free online games.