Samsung’s woes continue as the budget smartphone maker Micromax snatches the lead position from South Korean Samsung Electronics to become the leading supplier in India’s thriving smartphone market said the research firm Canalys.
In a report issued on 3 Feb, Canalys said Micromax, based near Gurgaon, Haryana, accounted for 22 per cent of smartphone sales in India in the October-December quarter, ahead of Samsung’s 20 percent. In total, 21.6 million smartphones were sold in India in the period, a 90 percent surge from a year earlier.
“This incredible performance is partly due to Micromax’s continuing appeal to mobile phone users upgrading to smart phones. Its flagship line of products has also very effectively targeted the Rs 9,000 to Rs 12,000 segment. Addressing these important segments has helped it take a 22 per cent share of the total smart phone market in India, ahead of Samsung at 20 per cent,” Canalys wrote in a blog post.
For Samsung this has been a tight year, the loss of crown in India comes just weeks after Canalys put Xiaomi ahead of the Korean company in China, a very important market given its size. In China too Samsung was earlier number one but now that position is occupied by Xiaomi, a local company. Samsung is also finding it tough to maintain the lead in the world market with Apple posting very positive numbers for its iPhones.
Canalys analyst Rushabh Doshi said that price-sensitivity of the market and the local customisations have helped Micromax.
“Micromax has been quicker than its competitors to improve the appeal of devices, for example, by including a wide variety of local languages on its Unite phones. (Also) vital to success is selling these handsets at low price points to appeal to the bulging mid-level income market in India,” he said.
Canalys said that in Q4 2014 in India, 23 per cent of shipments were of devices priced under Rs 6,000 while 41 per cent were of devices in the Rs 6,000 to Rs 12,000 bracket.
“Overall, the Indian market experienced very strong annual growth of 90 per cent, with 21.6 million units shipping in the quarter. The other major local vendors continued to jostle for third and fourth places. The top four players in Q4 2014 in India by units shipped were Micromax, Samsung, Karbonn and Lava,” said Canalys.
All research firms use different ways to track smartphone markets and the numbers from Canalys can, however, differ. Given the low difference in numbers of Samsung and Micromax, it is possible that other research firms like IDC and Gartner may show a different position in their quarterly reports, which are likely to be out in the coming weeks.
