According to a new report from the research firm Canalys, Samsung is no longer the biggest smartphone brand in India. According to the report, Micromax captured around 22 percent of the smartphone market share in India, beating Samsung, which was able to capture just 20 percent of the smartphone sales in the country during Q4 2014. This is the first time that an Indian mobile phone brand has been able to take the podium position in the market, beating well-established international brands.
Karbonn and Lava are placed third and fourth when the smartphone shipments in the country are concerned. According to Canalys, 23 percent of the smartphones were priced under Rs. 6,000, while 41 percent of the devices are priced between Rs. 6,000 to Rs. 12,000 mark. Micromax, thus far, has been quite successful in tapping first-time smartphone users
“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. Lava, another domestic vendor, has launched devices that cater to the preference for greater battery life – in this case a couple of days. But vital to success is selling these handsets at low price points to appeal to the bulging mid-level income market in India,” said Rushabh Doshi, an analyst at Canalys, in a statement.
Overall, the Indian smartphone market grew 90 percent to 21.6 million units shipped during Q4 2014. This is the second time that Samsung has lost its position as a market leader. First, it lost the position of the largest smartphone brand globally to Apple, and now to Micromax in India (which is also considered to be one of the most important markets for Samsung). Micromax is planning to strengthen its position further by launching online-only smartphones with dirt-cheap price tag under the YU brand.
P.S. We will, of course, wait for numbers from even more prominent research firms like IDC.
