Maxx Mobile To Roll Out 40 New Handsets, Planning Mobile Payments Service

Maxx Mobile, which currently has a three percent market share in India, is planning to introduce over 40 models of handsets by March 2012. Most will be priced between Rs. 5,000 and 8,000 ($113 to $180).  The company already has successful models like the Khamoosh, Jazz and Tiny series.

The large Indian mobile market is estimated at around Rs. 33,000+ crores (~$7500 million) and the leading players are Nokia and Samsung.

Maxx sold 3.6 million units in the last fiscal year, and aims at six million units this year. Ajjay Agarwal, Chairman and Managing Director of Maxx group told The Economic Times (PTI):

We plan to launch around 40 models by March 2012. We will be launching 4 models in the next quarter in the smartphone series. The configuration and specification of the [smartphone] product is under planning right now. The price of the smartphone would be in the range of Rs 5,000-8,000.

The company reportedly invests 0.5% of its revenues in research and development, and is already working on a mobile payments platform. At present Nokia is the only mobile manufacturer which has its own mobile payments platform. Adding to this Mr. Agarwal said:

Mobile payment is the future. Right now, it is new for us, but after one year it will be a basic requirement for us. We are investing in it. Our team is working on it. ‘Til we have something substantial, we cannot share the details.

Maxx is trying to compete with international counterparts like Nokia, Samsung, and Blackberry and recently is spending Rs. 2,500 crores in expansion and brand positioning. As per a recent report from Gartner, the mobile payments market is about to touch 141 million in 2011.

For more information, check out our recent infographic on the future of the mobile payments market. It will be interesting to see how successfully Maxx Mobiles can perform in one of the most competitive and vast mobile markets.

[Sources: Economic Times, TechKnots ; Image Sources: CMAI Events]