Micromax profits took a nosedive in FY18; revenue declined by 26%

Once a top-selling smartphone brand in India, Micromax has been witnessing a continuous decline in revenue in the last two years.

The Gurugram-based firm has reported 26 per cent downfall in revenues in compared to its last year financials.

The smartphone maker registered Rs 4,430 crore revenue for the FY18 against Rs 5,614 crore in FY17. Micromax profits have also declined by 76 per cent to Rs 104 crore, outlined the company's ROC filings quoted by the Business Line.

In FY16, the company had posted around Rs 10,000 crore in revenues.

Meanwhile, Micromax has curbed its total expenses at Rs 4,293 crore, which is less than a year ago period.

Founded in 2000, Micromax became a huge hit with users in India. Micromax in early years dominated the home turf with greater sales than global players in the country.

It was the first to launch a phone with 30-day battery life, dual-SIM phones and phones with Qwerty keypads in a lower price range. By 2015, it had become the top-selling brand in the country.

However, there on it could not keep up with the market demands. Micromax failed to grasp the fundamental market shifts in the India handset market. The major shift happened in the 2016-17 period when Micromax lost focus in the market by going after 3G phone market when everybody was after the next-generation phone market.

Whereas Chinese smartphone makers Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo, through an aggressive approach with 4G devices made significant headway in the country.

In 2017, all of them together had posted sales of Rs 22,527 crore in the year, which was around eight times higher than the previous fiscal.

Samsung too emerged in the market with over 25 per cent growth. All these firm have one thing in common they kept focusing on innovation and distribution of high-end products at lower prices, said experts.

While Xiaomi and Samsung emerged as leaders in India, Indian smartphone maker kept dwindling on growth.

A data based on the analysis of 200 million users showed Indian companies as biggest losers. Firms like Intex and Karbonn witnessed major downfall in a number of users. Micromax topped the list with a huge 41.2 per cent decline.

According to IDC report, the market share of Micromax’s has gone down to just 1 per cent.