Huawei Enters Into A Distribution Partnership With Micromax To Expand Offline Retail

At a time when most of smartphone brands are focussing on expanding their online presence, China-based Huawei Consumer Business Group is working towards strengthening its offline retail. Huawei has entered into a strategic partnership with home-grown brand Micromax Informatics Ltd. to help the brand gain a stronger foothold in the Indian consumer electronics market. This is Huawei’s largest retail expansion to date.

One of the fastest-growing technology companies, Huawei was added to the list of blacklisted companies by the US President Donald Trump-led administration in May earlier this year. This restricted technology firms like Google, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Intel and many others to commence business with Huawei. It was late last month that certain restrictions were lifted by the Trump administration.

Tornado Pan, Country Head (Huawei Brand) Consumer Business Group, Huawei India says, “Since our very entry into the Indian market, the brand has been witnessing overwhelming response from all section of consumers. With an aim to be present where our consumers are, we plan to focus on a robust offline distribution network catering to the needs of consumers in urban as well as the rural regions of the country and to make them experience the innovative technology that has won hearts of customers world over.”

Currently, Huawei sells through retail partners, to reach out to its existing and potential customers across the length and breadth of the country. Under a phased expansion plan, the idea is to be present across the country starting from cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Kochi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Dehradun, Kolkata and Jaipur will be targeted, among others.

Sunil Joon, Head – Strategy, Micromax Informatics Ltd. says, “Over the past decade, Micromax has pioneered the democratisation of technology in India – by offering affordable innovations through their product offerings and removing barriers for large scale adoption of advanced technologies. We are pleased to partner with Huawei telecommunications, with this long-term partnership we aim to reinforce our commitment towards consumers in India. Additionally, we are looking at boosting our services and strengthening our association with our existing and potential customers. The two brands will be seamlessly complementing each other as Huawei has its prowess in the premium smartphones segment and Micromax is popular in mass segment of smartphones.”

Over the last few years, Huawei has been very aggressive in the Indian market. The company has a state-of-the-art R&D centre in Bengaluru, which contributes significantly towards technological innovation, with a singular focus on offering an unparalleled experience to consumers. Interestingly, Huawei invests around a minimum of 10 per cent of their review towards R&D and has spent over $15 billion in R&D last year.

As per a recent report from IDC, Huawei is the fastest-growing smartphone brand in the world. It sold 200 million smartphones in 2018 and has managed to ship 100 million devices by the end of May. Huawei’s products and services are available in more than 170 countries. The company has 15 R&D centres including the one in India.―Business Today