NEW DELHI, INDIA: The India mobile handsets market declined 15 percent in terms of overall shipments over 4Q CY 2014 according to CMR’s India Monthly Mobile Handsets Market Review, 1Q CY 2015, May 2015.
Of the total 53 million mobile handsets shipped during the quarter, 37 percent (19.5 mn) were smartphones. Although smartphone shipments also declined quarter-on-quarter, the decline registered was only 7 percent, as compared to over 18percent in the case of the Featurephones segment.
The report states that Micromax, at second spot, registered a decline to 12.1 percent in terms overall mobile handset shipments, while in the Smartphones segment its market share was 16.2 percent as compared to 14 percent and 17.8 percent in 4Q CY 2014, respectively.
While in 4Q CY 2014, Micromax was just behind by 1.2 percent compared to Samsung in the overall mobile handsets market and in the Smartphones segment the gap was 5.9 percent, in 1Q CY 2015, these gaps have increased to 6.4 percent and 11.7 percent, respectively.
The third player in the market, Microsoft, on the other hand has been able to consolidate its position with 9.6 percent share in 1Q CY 2015, compared to 10.8% in the previous quarter for the overall mobile handsets market.
Within the Smartphones segment, Intex that emerged at third spot during 4Q CY 2014 continued to strengthen its ranking with a 9.2 percent market share in 1Q CY 2015, an increase of 1.3 percent.
Faisal Kawoosa, lead analyst, Telecoms Research, CMR said, “With major announcements of new handsets and entry of some new brands happening in a big way in 4Q CY 2014, there wasn’t really something very exciting in the market for customers that could push up sales in 1Q CY 2015. At the same time, change in duty structure and the consequent impact on the supply chain due to the Chinese New Year festivities contributed to the market contraction.”
“From the perspective of handset brands, the interesting point to note is that Samsung has been able to garner a higher market share in featurephones during 1Q CY 2015 as compared to the previous quarter. The company’s share also increased in the Smartphones segment at 27.9%, up from 23.7% in 4Q CY 2014. Samsung’s ability to add to its portfolio in all the major price segments within Smartphones, by launching new models in each of the entry-level, mid-range and high end segments of the market contributed to this increase,” Faisal further added.