Micromax setting up footsteps in Russia with Canvas and Bolt series in country.

India's second largest and worlds's 11th largest smart phone maker Micromax has started its operations in Russia. Micromax is focusing on Russia with highly popular Canvas and Bolt series smartphones to offer wide range of variety for its Russian customers. Company has aggressive plans about Russia and it aims to be on the 4th spot in country in terms of smartphone sales. Micromax is working on its vision to offer customized and innovative services and products for Russian market.

Micromax had already made mind to go global previous year as it signed Hollywood actor Hugh Jackman as brand ambassador.

Micromax would operate in Russia through a partnership with VV Group, one of the leading distribution houses in Russia. This partnership is key strategic move to get hold of region with a plan to make Micromax products available across the country.

Micromax will introduce its trend setting and popular Canvas and Bolt series of smart phones which have already sold over 35 million units across Micromax operating markets. Company will introduce 14 products initially in Russian market, as it plans to be among top 4 brands in Russia by the end of the year. Company is almost ready with infrastructure setup required with an aim of having more than 60 Service centers by end of this month and also plans to open its exclusive service centers in strategic cities in Russia as brand strengthens in country.

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 leading global instant messaging application; Facebook; Twitter and M!Live giving users access to social connectivity and unlimited free online games.

Micromax plans to support the launch with a 360 degree branding exercise aiming to enhance the brand visibility in the region supported by marketing campaign across print, online and TV

Commenting on the launch, Mr. 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 1^st 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”.

Over the past decade, Micromax has been at the forefront of driving innovation through their innovative product offerings addressing the consumer needs. The company has many firsts to its credit when it comes to the mobile devices market including Canvas Laptab - world’s first dual boot tablet powered by Intel, launched on the 6^th of January 2014 at CES in Vegas (Consumer Electronic Show), the first quad-core budget smartphone, phone with a 30-day battery backup, the first smartphone designed specifically for women, universal remote control mobile phones and a list of other innovative devices. The brand’s product portfolio embraces more than 60 models today, ranging from feature rich, dual – SIM phones, 3G Android smartphones, tablets, LED televisions and data cards.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr 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.”

Mr. 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.”