For a majority of Indian users, specs do not matter as much as the cost. For those where specifications take center stage, a quad core is a quad core irrespective of a 5 year old Mediatek processor or a Snapdragon 810 LTE enabled chipset. Micromax and a few other low cost mobile phone manufacturers take advantage of this to build their products and propagate them in comparison with the latest flagships. Seems weird to compare a Micromax Canvas with a Galaxy Note, but who cares, the appeal is comparing specs and price, which Micromax and other such cheap phone manufacturers exploit. The prices seem unbelievable for a quad core or even an octa core phone and how on earth do these folks make that universal drug $$$$.

Outdated Hardware.

Look beyond English when reading the specifications. More often than not, hardware used is atleast a couple of generations old. This along with latest software has disaster and performance problems written all over it. Every component is atleast 2-3 generations behind starting from the Chipset, RAM, GPU, lens, camera sensor, screen technology, battery and even the outer plastic or so called metallic finishes. You can get a 2 generation old chipset almost virtually free. It does provide value for money for the majority, but no one is out there for charity and the manufacturer makes a huge margin out there.

No R&D Cost.

Majority of these manufacturers do not invest in R&D. Almost of the phone design and build is picked out from existing flagship manufacturers or rebranded from other devices. For example, Micromax Yureka is a rebranded CoolPad. A sheep in a lion’s skin (In this specific example, the skin is sheepish as well).

Data Mining.

The next time you click on “I Agree” , spend some time before you do that in reading the entire agreement. For all you know, you may have just committed to sharing your contact details, their email addresses, your photos, your social login details, your phone call patterns, your GPS locations (Your friends as well if you use compatible apps), your food preferences, your videos, your fashion quotient, your underwear brands, your keystrokes, your dreams, your car, your financial details, your project on building a cheap thermonuclear device, your workplace, your spouse’s spending patterns and workplace, your kids’s schooling details and every single fantasy you could conceive of. The catch is this happens irrespective of whether you agree or not agree, all because of the benevolent nature of your manufacturer who wants to protect and safeguard you against you losing your data. Now that’s what I call charity !!!

Hidden Backdoors.

This is exactly where these manufacturers place money. The link towards the end of this post is self explanatory. To cut it short, manufacturers provide backdoors to these devices, wherein they can push and install any application which can collect any data with absolute disregard for the user’s choices. For example, Micromax installs backdoor to a few of its devices, wherein OTA service of these devices can not only update your apps, but also has unlimited leeway in installing any other app. They had tied up with a Chinese Data Mining company , which has a “Feature List” . Lets look at it shall we ?

There you go, in its own words on what they do. The cherry is Micromax chose to go with this provider than their own for OTA services. Now you know why you get those annoying ads and how Micromax is maximizing its revenue. MICRO efforts and MAXimum profits

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