Smartphones driving India's mobile phone growth: Study

A new study by CyberMedia Research says the Indian market saw a significant growth in smartphone sales, propelling overall mobile phone sales in the country.

According to  the study, mobile handset sales in India grew 20.8 percent to 221.6 million units in 2012 whereas smartphones sales saw a 35.7 percent year-on-year growth. The study observes smartphone sales registered a whopping 75.2 percent half year-on-half year growth in 2012.

Feature phones also saw an impressive growth with sales rising by 19.9 percent to 206.4 million in 2012 from 172.2 million in the previous year.

The CyberMedia Research further says Nokia is the largest player in the Indian mobile phone market with a 21.8 percent share in terms of unit shipments. Samsung ranks second with 13.7 percent share while Micromax is at the third spot with 6.6 percent share.

“Although we see a huge market ‘hype’ around smartphones, the fact remains that the India Mobile Handsets market is still dominated by shipments of feature phones. On the other hand smartphone shipments are growing fast. This indicates India is still a ‘new phone’ market, where feature phones contribute to the bulk of shipments compared to replacements or upgrades,” notes Faisal Kawoosa, Lead Analyst, CMR Telecoms Practice.

“This propensity on the part of Indian subscribers of mobile telephony services to purchase large numbers of feature phones has paved the way for the establishment of Indian brands, which are largely focused on this segment.”

In terms of smartphones, Samsung leads with 43.1 percent share while Nokia ranks second with 13.3 percent. Sony Mobiles is at the third spot with 8.2 percent in terms of unit shipments. The figures, however, do not include the shipments of the phablet (phones with screens larger than 5-inch).

“The India smartphones segment has very distinct characteristics vis-à-vis the overall market. We believe the struggle for leadership in the India smartphones market is going to intensify through 2013 as vendors bring new form factors to market,” says Tarun Pathak, Analyst, CMR Telecoms Practice.

“Players such as Samsung, HTC and Sony Mobiles will increasingly try to establish leadership through differentiated offerings and by promising a ‘seamless’ experience across the four consumer screens – smartphone, tablet, PC and TV. At the same time, home grown vendors such as Micromax, Karbonn and Lava will try to make a mark against their global competitors, by bringing to market powerful, yet attractively priced smartphones in an attempt to widen their appeal and grow the overall smartphone user base”, Tarun added.