Micromax appoints Ashish Agrawal as its CTO

Home-grown handset and tablet manufacturer Micromax Informatics Ltd has appointed Ashish Agrawal as its chief technology officer (CTO). In his new role, Agrawal will lead the technology initiatives for the company. He will also be responsible for defining the vision and the direction of software services, and driving new technology initiatives.

Commenting on the appointment, Vineet Taneja, CEO of Micromax said, "With his rich experience in the relevant areas at a global scale, Agrawal will help us build technology platforms that will further strengthen our leadership. I am excited to have him on board with us."

"Micromax is at the forefront of the Indian smartphone industry and I'm looking forward to leading its technology initiatives and ensuring that the company continues to exploit and invest in key technologies for the benefit of its customers," added Agrawal.

Agrawal has over 16 years of experience and prior to Micromax, he was the CTO at Sirqul, where he was responsible for product definition, execution and adoption of Sirqul's suite of mobile engagement product and services. Before that, he had spent 14 years in Amazon in software development, product development and technology leadership roles. He holds a B.Tech degree from IIT-Delhi, and a master's degree in electrical engineering from Columbia University, New York (US).

Early last week, Micromax had appointed Shubhajit Sen as its chief marketing officer (CMO). In his new role, Sen will lead all marketing efforts for the company across markets while strengthening the overall brand communication. He replaces Shubhodip Pal, who had joined Micromax as its CMO back in 2012.

In November last year, Micromax had appointed Amarinder S Dhaliwal as the chief operating officer (COO) of its new sub-brand 'YU'. In his role, Dhaliwal is working closely with Rahul Sharma, co-founder Micromax, to build a digital brand that engages directly with the user community.

Prior to that, the company had appointed Sanjay Kapoor, former CEO of Bharti Airtel, as chairman of its board in June 2014. Kapoor's induction had come barely days after the firm roped in Taneja, former country head (IT & mobile businesses) at Samsung India, as its chief executive.

According to a recent report released by CyberMedia Research (CMR), India's overall mobile handsets shipments in the calendar year (CY) 2014 stood at 257 million units. While Samsung emerged as the overall leader, Micromax came second with 13.3 per cent market share. The company's market share gained primarily in Q2, 2014, but then continued to remain flat during the rest of the year. It was the only player among the top three to improve its market share.

Micromax was also able to retain its number two position in the smartphone segment throughout the year despite stiff competition at the hands of Chinese brands/OEMs as well as a few Indian brands.