Is Micromax stealing Samsung’s thunder?

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Samsung is a huge name when it comes to smartphones. Thanks to the wild success of its Galaxy series, the Korean manufacturer has got a stranglehold on the Indian, and to a certain extent the international, Android smartphone market.

How then can a company that was founded in 2008 and started out as a manufacturer of low-cost dumb or feature phones have a leg up on the Korean giant? It started in 2010, when Micromax, the other company in question, launched its first Android phone, the Andro A60. It was a modest phone by all measures and ran Android 2.1 Eclair on a 2.8-inch display and had a weird oblong design that could only please the most eccentric. At the time, Samsung’s flagship was the slick Galaxy S, which boasted top-of-the-line specifications and had the backing of the company’s huge marketing prowess.

A couple of years later, Micromax is gunning hard for Samsung’s top spot in the Indian Android smartphone market. Of course, there’s still a long way to go and there’s no telling if the Gurgaon-based company will ever catch up. But if the past few days are any indication, Samsung has a good reason to be worried.

Will Micromax upstage Samsung in 2013?



Yesterday, Micromax announced its flagship phone, the A116 Canvas HD. It boasts a powerful MediaTek MT6589 1.2GHz quad core processor with 1GB of RAM and boots a lightly-skinned version of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean; and it is blazing fast. But the biggest factor in its favour is the low official price of Rs 14,999, which undercuts existing quad-core models available in the country.

In the light of this, Samsung’s announcement today of the Galaxy Grand seems like a cop-out. The Galaxy Grand is decidedly mid-range, but Samsung has done a commendable job in dressing it up with features that are usually found in the likes of the Galaxy Note II. Its 5-inch screen matches the Micromax phone, but the resolution is a pitiful 800 x 480. One gets a feeling that Samsung missed a beat by including such a low-resolution screen in the phone. For one, prices of qHD displays are low, as evidenced by the slew of mid-tier, low-priced phones that feature the 960 x 540 resolution. Secondly, the Galaxy Grand’s official price of Rs 21,500 makes it an expensive proposition even without considering that it is powered by an as-yet-unnamed 1.2GHz dual-core processor and also sports an 8 megapixel camera just like the A116.

This begs the question: why would anyone prefer the Galaxy Grand over the Micromax handset? The simple answer is they wouldn’t, unless they are swayed by Samsung’s pedigree as a handset maker or by free gifts such as a flip cover or cloud storage. Naysayers will say the A116’s build quality cannot stand up to the Samsung phones. But both are plastic built and for once, Micromax has released a phone that can’t be called a rip-off of another popular handset. Micromax has also promised an Android 4.2 update for the A116.

Micromax’s push to become the leading smartphone maker in India could not have received a better boost than the announcement of the A116 immediately before the Galaxy Grand. Not only will it throw light on the price disparity, but everything here is working in the favour of the Gurgaon-based company. And during yesterday’s announcement, the company revealed that it is going to forge ahead by launching more smartphones this year—thirty more to be precise! "We have a strong portfolio of products in the smart devices category, which contributes about 40-45 per cent of our revenues. We are looking at bringing in 30 new smartphones this year across price categories and take up market leadership position," Micromax CEO Deepak Mehrotra told reporters at the launch of A116. Even Samsung, with its marketing might and big budgets, would struggle to keep up with that rate of releases.

According to CyberMedia Research, in the first half of 2012, Nokia was the overall leader with a 22.2 percent share of the smartphone market, while Samsung and Micromax followed with 13 and 5.5 percent respectively. If Micromax continues to release smartphones that can compete on a spec level and also arrive at a highly-competitive price point, it wouldn’t be any surprise if they surpass Samsung. 2013 could very well be the year of Micromax.
 
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Mad
ginni what you think of micromax 's this phone.. e soch rea lelvan... or should i wait for that 30 models :p
 

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DBF bro Specs are really great of this phone + The Price only Rs.13999 :wot

Quad Core Processor of MediaTekk + GPU PowerVR Series5XT looks pretty good combination :y

Baki reviews check karlo pehla phone de :y

baki specs wise te phone bahut wadia lag reha te Micromax da A89 vi wadia si with MediaTekk Processor so you can expect a great performance with this one ;)

Baki I don't know it will be right to compare it with other brands like Samsung,HTC,Sony etc because MMX is providing great features for the peoples who can't even think to buy them!!!

720p HD Screen a Phone di ;) SO i thing give it a try ;)

You can check Benchmarks here ;) + Comparison with other Quad Core Mobiles :d
http://www.thinkdigit.com/Mobiles-PDAs/Micromax-A116-Canvas-HD-performance-review-vs_13496.html

baki reviews parh lo net to ;)
 
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The bottom line
No matter how much we try and nit-pick, there’s no denying the fact that the Canvas HD is currently the best Android smartphone, at least on paper. We don’t know if there will be any competition to the A116 by the time it actually hits retail, but it’s safe to assume that it’s going to be really tough to beat. Some of the strong points that work in its favour include an HD IPS display, quad-core CPU and Jelly Bean support. The only real area of concern right now is the battery life.

While it's great to see such a powerful handset at a reasonable price, the real question is, will people be ready to shell out more than Rs.10,000 for a Micromax? The company has undoubtedly produced some very good handsets in the past few months, but they’ve all been around the Rs.10,000. When you come to the 15K to 20K price range, things like aesthetics, quality of materials used, updates etc. tend to matter. Samsung has just launched the Galaxy Grand for an MRP of 21,500, so assuming the street price is around Rs.18,000, unless you’re on a very tight budget, a typical user would cough up the extra dough for a product from a more established company. If you had to pick between the A116 and the Galaxy Grand, which one would you go for?
 

DBF

Mad
still confused... i was looking for galaxy s duos earlier.... and now canvas HD...
so which one shud i go with...
usage: bas surfing hougi.. apps ya gaming jyda nae kerni...!!
 

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for gaming + Apps Samsung Galaxy S Duos is not a good choice :n

go with Huawei Honor or I recommend Xolo X500 (single core processor with 1st Intel Processor) check XOLO X500 reviews ;)

baki eh gal ta haigi a vi Micromax de phone lag pag same China de hunde a bas eh warranty de dinde a :y
 
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