The Indian smartphone market is a real prize for many major OEMs. Even Google found India an interesting prospect with Android One, which is not a surprise considering that we are talking about country with over 1.2 billion citizens. The mobile market in India is booming and OEMs will undoubtedly try to take advantage of it. This Asian country might also be the next target of Cyanogen, Inc., which made an agreement with Micromax and will release a new device later this year.

CyanogenMod is a ROM that doesn't need to be introduced. This ROM is by far the most popular AOSP-based ROM around, so most of you are already well familiar with CM and its derivatives. I dare to say that many of you came to XDA because of this ROM. Cyanogen, Inc. has already released two devices running their branded modification, the Oppo N1 and the OnePlus One, so teaming up with hardware manufacturers is nothing new to them.

This news is even more interesting when looking at Google attempting to acquire the company. Kirt McMaster, the CEO of Cyanogen, refused a big offer made by Sundar Pichai. Micromax is one of partners of Google with its Android One initiative.

In the last couple of years, Micromax has become one of the main powerhouse forces in India. Devices made by this company are in second place (right after Samsung) in terms of marker share in India. Micromax has had continuous problems with GPL compliance, but we should see the source code of this device, since CyanogenMod is an open-source project for the most part.

Cyanogen, Inc. is looking for some revenue, after rejecting Google's offer. Micromax can bring this in thanks to the large number of devices that will undoubtedly be sold--and not only in India. Get your popcorn ready; it's Google's move now.

[via Tech2]