Micromax Eyeing Further Diversification? Aims to Become Largest Consumer Electronics Brand in India

By Abhishek Joshi On Jun 10, 2016

Indian smartphone manufacturer, Micromax Informatics, has a vision to become India’s largest consumer electronics brand by 2018 and hopes to do so by diversifying into various industries gradually.

Micromax already sells televisions on Flipkart, Amazon and other leading marketplaces, and now the company is planning to launch its first set of air conditioners in the market. The four ACs will be priced between Rs. 20k to Rs. 30k and will help Micromax make a name in the consumer durables industry.

LeEco in China is also similar, except it is much larger and has presence in nearly every industry, from smartphone to televisions, music, television content and even vehicle technology.

Taking a similar route, Micromax has forecasted that the consumer electronics portfolio, sans smartphones, will contribute to 20% of its revenue by 2017, 15% from LED TVs and 5% from ACs. Air Conditioners have the second largest market in India after televisions.

Rajesh Agarwal, Co-Founder – Micromax, told PTI, “We had launched LED TVs two and a half years back and today are among the top 5 brands with about 10 percent market share… ACs is among the fastest growing categories in the segment. We are launching 4 SKUs in windows (one) and split (three) ACs with 1.5 and 2 ton capacity. These will be manufactured at our facility in Uttarakhand.”

Last week, Micromax had announced plans of entry into the Chinese market next year to gain a strong foothold outside India. While the plans seem too ambitious, foraying into consumer electronics feels like a better proposition and more realistic for an Indian brand right now.

The next two to three years will be very crucial for the electronics manufacturer in India as it tries to diversify into different consumer durables industries and competes with established manufacturers in India like Samsung, Videocon, Panasonic and LG.

Let us see response to Micromax’s air conditioners, considering summers are going to be over soon in most parts of the country. What next for Micromax? Refrigerators or Washing Machines, which are the third and fourth largest sold electronics in India? Micromax will have to come up with a solid plan to tackle leading foreign companies in India.