Micromax, Phison Announce MiPhi Joint Venture to Offer NAND Storage Solutions in India

Micromax Informatics on Thursday announced that it was partnering with storage manufacturer Phison to launch a new joint venture dubbed MiPhi. The companies are set to collaborate to provide embedded storage solutions to firms in the country across various sectors including mobile, automobile, Internet of Things (IoT), data centre, and consumer devices. MiPhi will rely on manufacturing facilities that are located in four regions in order to provide hardware designed to be used by tech firms for artificial intelligence (AI) applications.

MiPhi to Rely on Manufacturing Sites in Four Regions in India

According to a press release issued by the company, the new MiPhi joint venture will offer custom-designed NAND storage solutions for AI use cases. These are claimed to offer the lowest energy consumption and per-token cost when used for AI operations. MiPhi will also produce storage for use in the enterprise and the automotive sector.

The collaboration between the consumer electronics firm and the flash storage maker will use manufacturing sites in four areas — Bhiwadi (Rajasthan), Hyderabad, Noida (Uttar Pradesh), and Telangana. MiPhi will set up pan-India sales channels that will provide access to embedded solutions to firms in various sectors such as mobiles, automobiles, IoT, data centres, and consumer devices.

Phison holds over 2,000 patents and will invest 80 percent of its operating expenses in the joint venture, while Micromax says it will provide expertise in producing and selling products in the country.

Earlier this year, it was reported that Micromax was looking to enter the electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing space in India, after laying off employees across the country and seeing its smartphone shipments continue to decline. The company has yet to announce any plans for an EV venture, which would compete with Ather Energy, Matter, and Ola Electric.

“By combining our local market expertise with Phison’s critical technological prowess, we are poised to deliver breakthrough solutions […] With this venture, we aim to bring down the cost of GPU by 1/10th by bringing the lowest per token cost in the world. This will help us in disrupting the AI landscape not only in India but also in specific agreed-upon regions,” said Rahul Sharma, Co-Founder, Micromax Informatics, in a prepared statement.