Chinese Mobile Players Capture Over 50 Percent Market Share in India

China-based vendors continue to strengthen their grip in the Indian smartphone market. In the first quarter of 2017, China-based vendors captured 51.4 per cent share of the smartphone shipments in India, according to International Data Corporation (IDC).

In contrast, the share of homegrown vendors dropped to 13.5 per cent in Q1 2017 from 40.5 per cent in Q1 2016.

The ASP (average selling price) of smartphones has increased from $131 in Q1 2016 to $155 in Q1 2017. Almost two-thirds of the smartphones sold by China-based vendors are in the price range of $100-200 in India. It has shifted the mass segment, which used be the less than $100 to $100-$200 in India, contributing almost half of the smartphone shipments in Q1 2017.

IDC said 94.5 per cent smartphones shipped in Q1 2017 were 4G-enabled. While home-grown companies had half of their portfolio in 3G in Q1 2016, China-based vendors were already bringing a majority of devices in the 4G segment, which benefited them in leveraging the 4G wave demand in India. For the first time, in the first of quarter of 2017, a smartphone model from a China-based vendor became the highest shipped smartphone as the Redmi Note 4 replaced the Samsung Galaxy J2, which was the top model in Q4 2016.

"Though homegrown vendors are making attempts to recapture the lost ground with new launches in the sub-$100 as well as in the mid-range segment. But intense competition from China-based vendors continues to be a major challenge and is expected to increase in the coming quarters" said Jaipal Singh, Market Analyst, Client Devices, IDC India. "Recovery of the homegrown vendor is necessary for the Indian smartphone market, not only to fill in the vacuum created over the last few quarters, but also to fuel the feature phone to smartphone migration," added Singh.

Agencies