Micromax enters Russian market with Canvas Beat A114R & Social A94 Android smartphones

After a string of smartphone launches in India this month, homegrown handset and tablet manufacturer Micromax is now gearing up for Russia. In the country, the company would be operating through a partnership with VVP Group, one of the leading distribution houses in Russia. It will be introducing its Canvas series of smartphones and Bolt series of smart-feature phones, which it claims has already sold more than 35 million devices in the past one year. The company already has a presence in neighbouring markets such as Bangladesh and Sri Lanka

The company will be launching 14 products in the Russian market in the initial phase, and wants to be among the top four brands in the country by the end of 2014. The company is ready with its service infrastructure across Russia with an aim of having more than 60 operational service centers by end of the month. Already the second biggest handset vendor in the country (after Samsung), Micromax is also claiming that it is the world's 11th largest mobile phone brand.

Rahul Sharma, co-founder, Micromax, said, "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 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 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," he further added.

The company has also tied up with leading VAS providers in the country including Odnoklassniki, a popular social network service and IVI.ru, a free video & music service.

"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 9,000+ sales points in the country backed by a service infrastructure," said Vasily Sibirtsev, chairman, VVP Group.

To begin with, the company has launched two smartphones in the country. Christened Canvas Beat A114R and Canvas Social A94, the two smartphones run on the Android operating system.

Powered by a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor, Canvas Beat A114R sports a 5-inch qHD display. It runs on the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean operating system and has 1 GB of RAM. On the connectivity front, the device has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and 3G. It has an 8MP rear camera, along with a 2MP front-facing camera for video calling. The company has provided a 2,000 mAh battery in the smartphone, which also comes with FM Radio.

In comparison, Canvas Social A94 has a 4.5-inch IPS display, and it also runs on the Android 4.2 operating system. It is powered by a 1.2 GHz quad core processor and has 512MB of RAM. The device boasts of a 5MP rear camera, as well as a front camera for video calling. On the connectivity front, it has Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and 3G. Micromax has provided a 1,800 mAh battery in the device and it also comes with FM Radio.

In Oct 2013, the company had announced that it was planning to roll out operations in Russia and Romania. The company had already set up an office in Russia at the time, and had also signed an agreement with Hollywood actor Hugh Jackman to endorse its high-end smartphone series sold under the Canvas brand. The company was also on the lookout to acquire a software company, however, further details were not shared.