Indian Smartphone Market Fastest Growing In Asia-Pac. Logs 27% Quarterly Growth

The smartphone market in India grew at a phenomenal rate of 27% over the last three months according to latest figures released by International Data Corporation (IDC). Infact, India registered the highest quarterly growth rate among all other emerging markets in the Asia/ Pacific region, thanks to the festive season which pushed up the demand for new devices, taking it to never before levels.

Growth Rate – Smartphones Vs Feature Phones

The smartphone market share has increased by 3% over the last three months, obviously at the cost of feature phones, which inversely came down by 3%

While the overall quarterly growth rate for the region was put at 3%, the fact that Indian market grew by 27% over the same period shows how rapidly the Indians are gearing up themselves and how internet penetration in the region will see an upsurge owing to that.

Annual Growth – Smartphones Vs Feature Phones

Smartphone penetration in the Asian pacific region is on the rise. The percentage of smartphone users among those who owned a mobile has increased from 19% in Q3 2013 to 32% in Q3 2014-a very healthy growth rate of 13% while the sale of feature phones has fallen. Only 68% mobile owners now own a feature device, as compared to 81% of them a year back.

Total Units Sold in Q3 2014

A total of 72.5 million mobile phones were sold during the Q3 2014, of which 23.3 mn were smartphones while 49.2 mn were feature phones. Only 12.8 million units had been sold over the corresponding period of CY2013.

That represents a 15% quarterly growth and 9% annual growth rate in the smartphone market.

Preferred Screen Size 4.5- 5.5 Inches

IDC also found devices with 4.5-5.5 inch screens to be the most popular, while the sale of phablets (phones with 5.5-6.99 inch screens) almost stagnated. Only 6% of the smartphone buyers showed love for gadgets with screens larger than 5.5 inches.

However, Kiran Kumar from IDC India believes that the phablet market will pick up once again after the 4G services are rolled out in 2015. With high speed internet, consumers might prefer to view content over larger screens.

Market Share of Smartphone Vendors in India

Though Samsung sits pretty at the top of the table when talking of smartphone vendor share in the country (with a sizeable 24% share of the market), the Indian brand Micromax is catching up with the Korean manufacturer by making rapid strides.

Not only is the growth rate of devices shipped by Samsung during Q3 2014 below the industry average, their nearest rival Micromax has come too close for comfort with a 20% hold over the market. They, incidentally, have grown from 18% to 20%.

Lava has emerged as the third largest smartphone vendor in India with two brands- Lava and Xolo both registering a healthy growth in their market share.

Karbonn continues to be popular for those looking for smartphones priced below $100 while Motorola also staging a comeback in the mobile market with the second generation of their handsets getting a good response.

Market Forecast

The huge increase in demand for smartphones over the last three months was largely due to increased spending and the Indian choosing to splurge over the festive season. It is highly unlikely that the smartphone market will continue to grow at the same rate as the last quarter in the coming months as well.

“With positive consumer sentiments and low levels of inflation, consumers will have more money to spend. The majority of the smartphone users change their phones within 12 to 24 months. With 44 million units shipped in CY2013 and the current market scenario hinting at 80 million plus shipments in CY2014, we have a big chunk of end-user market which is awaiting refresh,” said Karan Thakkar Senior Market Analyst at IDC India.

[IDC report]