The inevitable has finally happened: Made in India brand Micromax has beaten Korean vendor Samsung to become biggest mobile handset vendor in India. The latest data for mobile handset sales in India was analyzed by Counterpoint Research, according to which, for the period between April to June 2014, Micromax captured 16.6% market share, compared to 14.4% by Samsung.
While Micromax has beaten Samsung in overall mobile handset race, Samsung still leads when it comes to Smartphone sales alone with 25 percent market share in 2Q2014, as compared to 19.1% of Micromax.
As per the latest data for India specific sales, smartphone sales grew by 68% annually, but overall mobile phone sales growth was only 2%. Demand for feature phones fell by 16% during Q2 of 2014, which is by far the single most biggest drop in this segment. Indian brands (which include Micromax), have captured more than 2/3rd of overall smartphone market!
At #3 is Nokia with 10.9% share and Karbonn with 9.5% share is positioned at #4 position.
Earlier, we had reported that overall market share of Samsung has taken a beating, as per Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker by IDC; compared to 32.3% share in 2013 of overall global sales of smartphones, Samsung managed to capture only 25.2% in 2014.
Samsung Takes A Beating In China As Well
In a separate research conducted by Canalys, it was revealed that Samsung sales in China has nosedived as well, as Xiaomi has become the largest smartphone vendor there. For second quarter of 2014, Xiaomi controlled 14% market share in overall smartphone sales in China, compared to Samsung, Lenovo and Yulong with 12% each.
In the first quarter, Samsung had 18.3% market share whereas Xiaomi had 10.7% share. Analysts are saying that Xiaomi’s RedMi series: Redmi, Redmi 1S and Redmi Note helped them overtake Samsung, which has happened for the first time in China.
Indian Market: Micromax vs Xiaomi Now!
As the second round of Xiaomi’s flash sale starts in India with 15,000 units at stake, it would be interesting to see their growth in India.
With Samsung dropped to #2 position in India, the fight has now shifted to Xiaomi vs Micromax for grabbing maximum stake in the ever-burgeoning smartphone market in India. It would be interesting to watch the reaction of Micromax in countering the new challenge.
You can read the complete research by Counterpoint Research here.
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Excellent article Arun and thanks for the information. I have written a further analysis of the article and linked back to your site showing you as the source :)
Micromax Mobile is really doing great in india.
I own A091 Engage and my spouse own A58 BOLT. Both are doing great job.
A091: I got the user experience like IPhone.
Thanks
What should be noted is MMX leads in “Mobile Phone” segment and not the Smartphone. This is very important as MMX has handset starting as cheap as Rs. 1000. And for the same reason Nokia is on the list. So comparing feature phone shipment numbers does not make much sense. That is why Apple’s revenue would be greater that others even if they ship low numbers (there is no iPhone priced at 5000 bucks).
I still do not prefer the MMX/Karbonn due to after-sales. But yes, Motorola and Xiaomi seems to be the real threat for Samsung as both deals in Smartphones only (which is much profitable business for any company as of now) and setting up the service centres rapidly.
This was bound to happen. Indians have learnt to ignore similar looking plastic phones. The only thing that I am concerned about is MMX’s after-sales support. They need to work on it if they really want to be the #1 smartphone vendor in India.
Absolutely agreed. It is not just sub-standard phone built, but also expensively priced. When you can get better phones at half the price, no one is going to buy Samsung.