Micromax to revive Yu brand to take on Chinese smartphone makers like Vivo, Oppo and others

KOLKATA: Micromax Informatics, India’s second-largest smartphone maker, is reviving and repositioning its Yu brand to fight competition from Chinese rivals Vivo, Oppo, LeEco and Xiaomi in the affordable premium category.

The company has crafted a dual-brand strategy under which Yu will be elevated as the flagship brand targeting youth in the premium segment and Micromax will focus on feature and smartphones priced under Rs 12,000.

"This will ward off price cannibalisation between the two brands. As part of this, Yu will exit the sub-Rs 10,000 segment by November," said Shubhodip Pal, chief operating officer at Yu Televentures, a wholly owned unit of Micromax.



Gurgaon-based Micromax’s share of the Indian smartphone market narrowed to 14.1 per cent in the April-June quarter from 16.7 per cent in the year-ago period, according to Counterpoint Technology Market Research.

Chinese brands together expanded their share to 27 per cent from 21 per cent in the preceding three months at the cost of Indian brands. Samsung Electronics dominates the market with a 25.6 per cent share.

The dual-brand strategy may help Micromax sustain its share, although it needs to quickly build the Yu brand with some winning models, said Tarun Pathak, senior analyst with Counterpoint Research. "It takes two years to build a brand and Yu may need to do it quicker," he added.

According to Counterpoint Research, the sub-Rs 10,000 smartphone segment contributes about 75 per cent of sales volumes and the Rs 10,000-25,000 segment about 20 per cent.

The average selling price of Micromax mobiles is about Rs 5,500 and that of Yu phones is Rs 8,500, which the company wants to increase to Rs 11,000. The highest priced Yu handset is Yunicorn, which sells for Rs 13,499.

The company wants to launch a model at Rs 16,000-17,000 before Diwali. Also on the cards are forays into wearable health bands and speakers under the Yu brand.