Micromax forays into premium smartphone segment, launches flagship 'Dual 5'

Homegrown handsets maker Micromax on Wednesday announced a foray into premium devices with the launch of 4G VoLTE ready smartphone 'Dual 5', which is priced at Rs 24,999.

We are eyeing up to 25 per cent business growth in premium mobile sector during 2017-18, said the company in the statement.

"We want to be an important player in premium smartphone segment in Rs 20,000 plus range. All Micromax phones will now be 4G enabled. We expect 20-25 per cent business growth in 2017-18," Micromax Informatics Co-Founder Rahul Sharma said while launching the Dual 5.

The new smartphone has a 13 MP dual rear camera with Sony sensors (one with colour and the other with monochrome sensor) and a 13 MP front facing camera.

Dual 5 comes with Qualcomm 652 Snapdragon processor, 4GB RAM, 128GB internal memory, Corning Gorilla Glass 3 and a 3,200mAh battery with quick charge feature.

"Premium customers in the country need an option to buy something which is made in India, made for India and made by Indians. The Dual 5 will be made in India like our other phones," Sharma said.

He said that the company will provide a one year free replacement of Dual 5 in case of screen damage while replacement conditions for other damages are being worked out.


The company will start selling Dual 5 from April 10.

"We expect to gain higher market share in 2017. Micromax aims to achieve a 10 per cent market share in the premium smartphone category (priced above Rs 20,000) in 2017," Sharma said.

"Our entry into the premium segment aims to further simplify the eco-system with a combination of hardware, software services, digital payments, customer service and more. We aim to increase our average selling price by 20 per cent in the year to come with new launches planned in over Rs 10,000, Rs 15,000 and Rs 20,000 categories," Sharma said.

Micromax plans to launch it first 4G feature phone -- Bharat 1 and Bharat 2 -- at a starting price of Rs 1,999.

"We are aiming to sell 5-6 million units of the upcoming Bharat 1 4G VoLTE (technology being widely used by Reliance Jio for phone calls) feature phone and Bharat 2 VoLTE smartphones in India over the next 5-6 months. The demand for these handsets is so high that our stock for next 4-5 months has been completely booked," Sharma said.

He said that the company registered 10-12 patents in 2016 and there will be more patents this year with focus on security, imaging and consumer experience.

"In Dual 5, we have same EAL 5+ security as a bank card, which is much more secure than the EAL 2+ security featured in other smartphones," Sharma said.

Micromax is rolling out Bajaj Finance's EMI scheme for the Dual 5 smartphones. The financing scheme will be extended to other products in the Dual portfolio.