Indian smartphone manufacturer, Micromax, has entered into a collaborative partnership with online retailer Flipkart to increase its market share in the mid-price category of smartphones sold online.

The company has announced that the partnership is not merely a retail collaboration but deep integration of Flipkart insights and analytics will help shape Micromax’s product strategy going forward, and there will be a preferential relationship for Flipkart for the company’s smartphone range sold offline as well.

While Micromax’s key strength has been the offline retail channels, the company now wishes to increase its online market share and increase category penetration in budget and mid-range devices. According to a Flipkart respresentative, mid-range smartphones have a market share of 55% on their platform (October – December 2016), and that is where Micromax wants to find its footing. Together with Flipkart, the company will invest in and build a common exclusive brand.

To start with, Micromax will launch devices as part of the new Evok series to gain share in ₹6-12k online category and build Micromax brand preference on Flipkart. Shubhajit Sen, Chief Marketing Officer at Micromax, hinted that there could be more brands that they launch as part of the partnership with Flipkart going forward.

Micromax will soon launch two devices as part of this new series – Evok Note and Evok Power. The two budget smartphones will be available exclusively on Flipkart. Previously, Micromax had launched a separate brand Yu under which devices were exclusively sold online.

Micromax has a good standing in offline retails channels, but with this latest partnership, the company aims to establish an exclusive brand that could drive its sale online, piggybacking on Flipkart’s reach.