Smartphone shipments into India touch record high, Samsung loses mkt share

Samsung & Micromax lose market share; Chinese brands capture a third of the Indian market

Shipment of smartphones has touched a new high as nearly 35 million handsets were shipped during the July-September quarter in India. The number went up by 25 percent year-on-year, as vendors stocked up for the festive season ahead, preliminary data from Counterpoint Research show.

While Chinese firms continued to tighten their hold over the market in India, homegrown smartphone brands lost nearly six percent market share during the period. Market leader Samsung’s share fell to 21.6 percent from nearly 26 percent in the previous quarter. 

Runner up Micromax too lost a significant share of the market. Its market share stands at 9.8 percent at the end of September from 14.1 percent during the previous quarter. Despite the loss, both players continue to hold their respective positions at the top.

Tech devices major Lenovo has regained the third spot by improving its share to 8.9 percent during the quarter from 8.3 percent at the end of June. 

Lyf smartphones, the handsets brand from Reliance, has emerged as the fourth largest brand with 6.7 percent market share. According to analysts, the launch of Reliance Jio telecom service has positively impacted the brand's prospects in the country.

Another Indian handset brand Intex has slipped to the fifth spot from the third position as its share fell to 6.4 percent.

As per data available, shipments of smartphones have surged 21 percent on a quarter-to-quarter basis from 29 million in the June quarter. 

However, analysts predict that shipments this year will miss the estimated 140 million units figure due to a low transition from feature phones to smart handsets.

Chinese handset makers such as Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo have gained at the cost of Indian brands. Xiaomi has emerged as the sixth biggest player with 6.2 percent share.

Vivo and Oppo are following at the seventh and eighth spot. While, most Chinese handsets, until recently, were being sold through the online platform only, their aggressive offline distribution has helped in a market where a majority of smartphones are still purchased from brick and mortar outlets.