A new report by CyberMedia Research (CMR) claims that smartphone shipments in India will overtake feature phones in 2016. It expects the total figure of the former to stand at 250 million units, which will be 4% higher than 2015.
The study thinks the smartphone market will still be the primary growth engine for the mobile devices sector. It could post a growth of 37% in 2016, considerably higher than the 32% average rise which the segment has seen over the past 3 years. On the other hand, feature phones are continuing its downward spiral.
Shipments for basic handsets were down by 17% on a yearly average basis. CMR thinks the explosion of affordable 4G devices flooding the market and an expanded reach into rural, Tier II and Tier III markets are the chief drivers behind the supremacy of smartphones in the nation.
An earlier report by Counterpoint had found that shipments for LTE-ready handsets rose by a massive 2400% to 10 million units within the third quarter of 2015. 1 in 3 phones were smartphones and 1 in 4 were Made in India offerings. Online shopping sites like Amazon, Snapdeal and Flipkart had apparently played an important role in this phenomenon.
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The CMR document also analyzed the kind of specification trends which were on offer last year. For example, 0.6% of smartphones in 2015 had 4GB of RAM. The number is a significant increase over the 2013 figure, which saw just 0.07% of units providing that much RAM. The agency says the average selling price of phones is falling while the features it comes with are improving.
According to CMR, 2015 wasn’t a great year for breakthroughs. The only significant changes came in the form of Apple’s 3D Touch function for the iPhone 6S and Samsung’s dual-curved design for its Galaxy S6 Edge series. It also pointed out that both of these developments had occurred in the premium segment, which accounts for just 0.6% of the market in India.