According to the IDC AP Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker report for the second quarter of 2013, Micromax is the second most preferred mobile phone manufacturer in India, the first being Samsung. While the South Korean company rules over the Indian phone segment with a market share of 26 percent, the aforementioned homegrown OEM is not far behind as it lays claim over 22 percent of the total share.
Mobile vendors shipped 9.3 million units of smartphones in this quarter, which is more than double the amount of phones that were sold at this time last year or even in the first three months of 2013. In Q2 2012, the exact number of mobile gadgets that were moved stood at 3.5 million. Also, it has come to light that Indians now prefer phablets considering that out of the total shipments, 30 percent market share belongs to devices featuring screens measuring anywhere between 5 inches and 6.99 inches.
Additionally, there has been a 21 percent YoY (year over year) growth in phone sales, while 4 percent more mobile devices have been shipped compared to the first quarter of this year. No doubt that big players like Samsung and Nokia continue to have an upper hand in India, but local vendors are slowly catching up. Companies like Micromax, Karbonn, Lava, Intex and Celkon have already created a considerable customer base in the nation.
It should be noted that even though the market share of feature phones has reduced, they still continue to dominate the segment with a lion’s share of 85 percent. As much as two third of the total mobile phones come under the entry-level sub-$200 category and such attractive prices have been a driving force behind popularizing smartphones.
The top five mobile phone vendors in India as of Q2 2013 are Samsung, Micromax, Karbonn, Nokia and Sony, respectively.