Considering how they made The Incumbents Bleed, both Micromax and G’Five have been Revelations in The Indian Mobile handset Industry. Now they are Increasingly getting in each Other’s Way
Ages ago, Charles Darwin coined the phrase “survival of the fittest”. His words make all the more sense in today’s era where change happens overnight. And verdicts are given on the victor and the vanquished in much lesser time. In fact, one can safely adapt Darwin’s theory and say that this is the era of survival of the “fittest and the swiftest”. The Indian handset industry, with estimated sales of around 10-12 million units every month, currently has its hands full with a number of players already in the race for a slice of the pie; of course, the larger, the better. But with that perspective, comes the fact that there are always newer players looking to get their foot inside the doorstep. This market, which earlier boasted of only a handful others, was redefined a few years back by a clutch of companies, which made the incumbents bleed, and profusely. Micromax and G’five are two brands, in particular, that emerged from the resultant hostilities to become prominent players in their own right. And while they both have benefitted from attacking the leaders, they are off late increasingly finding themselves in each other’s way. And given the fact that they perhaps are the most acerbic competitors in the market front, 4Ps B&M decided to cover them in this section of Marketers@War..
Micromax established a new business model in India by importing handsets – as there are no duties levied – and selling them in the Indian handset market. Most imports are occurring from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and other east Asian countries. Off late, the Chinese players have also realised the potential and growth opportunities and entered directly. And Honk Kong based G’Five, irrespective of its lineage (how many of us associate Hong Kong with consumer electronics?), is playing on similar tunes.
Micromax and G’Five are competing in the Indian market on a common principle – offering exceptional value for money to their users and becoming the alternatives to the incumbent MNCs. However, they are not similar in their actual method of approach. Micromax, since its inception, has adopted an aggressive marketing campaign to promote its brand. It has leveraged both cricket and Bollywood (it roped in Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar, a testimony to its ambitions) and indulged in a number of visibility campaigns. “Our target audience identifies itself with cricket, Bollywood and music. That is why we have been marketing our product around them,” points out Pratik Seal, Head Marketing, Micromax.
On the other hand, G’Five has remained a silent killer in the industry and hardly promoted its products or its brand at the national level. It therefore came as a shock when IDC reported that G’Five has emerged as the largest handset player in India after Nokia for the quarter ending September 2010. Nokia further slipped by around 5% to post a market share of 31.5% and G’Five took the second spot with 10.6%; beating Samsung at 8.2%.“Yes, I agree that G’Five as a brand was not visible in the Tier I cities and metros. But we have been doing enough branding and marketing campaigns in Tier II and III cities,” says Arshit Pathak, Managing Director, G’Five. In the initial stages, the company has been targeting Tier II and Tier III cities, and 80% of sales of G’Five handsets are coming from these cities. After having reached a formidable position, G’Five is now positioning itself in metros and Tier I cities. It is also looking forward to tie-ups with some of the large format retail outlets.
Ages ago, Charles Darwin coined the phrase “survival of the fittest”. His words make all the more sense in today’s era where change happens overnight. And verdicts are given on the victor and the vanquished in much lesser time. In fact, one can safely adapt Darwin’s theory and say that this is the era of survival of the “fittest and the swiftest”. The Indian handset industry, with estimated sales of around 10-12 million units every month, currently has its hands full with a number of players already in the race for a slice of the pie; of course, the larger, the better. But with that perspective, comes the fact that there are always newer players looking to get their foot inside the doorstep. This market, which earlier boasted of only a handful others, was redefined a few years back by a clutch of companies, which made the incumbents bleed, and profusely. Micromax and G’five are two brands, in particular, that emerged from the resultant hostilities to become prominent players in their own right. And while they both have benefitted from attacking the leaders, they are off late increasingly finding themselves in each other’s way. And given the fact that they perhaps are the most acerbic competitors in the market front, 4Ps B&M decided to cover them in this section of Marketers@War..
Micromax established a new business model in India by importing handsets – as there are no duties levied – and selling them in the Indian handset market. Most imports are occurring from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and other east Asian countries. Off late, the Chinese players have also realised the potential and growth opportunities and entered directly. And Honk Kong based G’Five, irrespective of its lineage (how many of us associate Hong Kong with consumer electronics?), is playing on similar tunes.
Micromax and G’Five are competing in the Indian market on a common principle – offering exceptional value for money to their users and becoming the alternatives to the incumbent MNCs. However, they are not similar in their actual method of approach. Micromax, since its inception, has adopted an aggressive marketing campaign to promote its brand. It has leveraged both cricket and Bollywood (it roped in Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar, a testimony to its ambitions) and indulged in a number of visibility campaigns. “Our target audience identifies itself with cricket, Bollywood and music. That is why we have been marketing our product around them,” points out Pratik Seal, Head Marketing, Micromax.
On the other hand, G’Five has remained a silent killer in the industry and hardly promoted its products or its brand at the national level. It therefore came as a shock when IDC reported that G’Five has emerged as the largest handset player in India after Nokia for the quarter ending September 2010. Nokia further slipped by around 5% to post a market share of 31.5% and G’Five took the second spot with 10.6%; beating Samsung at 8.2%.“Yes, I agree that G’Five as a brand was not visible in the Tier I cities and metros. But we have been doing enough branding and marketing campaigns in Tier II and III cities,” says Arshit Pathak, Managing Director, G’Five. In the initial stages, the company has been targeting Tier II and Tier III cities, and 80% of sales of G’Five handsets are coming from these cities. After having reached a formidable position, G’Five is now positioning itself in metros and Tier I cities. It is also looking forward to tie-ups with some of the large format retail outlets.
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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
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