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Samsung India has become the number one player in overall mobile phones sales in India, beating the erstwhile Nokia India for the first time, in the first quarter of 2013.
According to the latest report by market intelligence firm IDC, Micromax and Karbonn maintained third and fourth positions, respectively, in the overall sales of 60.73 million mobile phones during the period.
While Samsung got the top slot at 16 per cent market share, Nokia India had 15 per cent in the period. Micromax and Karbonn each had 7 per cent market share.
Nokia India, which was strong in feature phones, has lost its sheen because of Samsung getting into that market as well, said analysts.
Smartphones category
In the smartphones category, Micromax had the maximum share of market (18.8 per cent) after Samsung (32.7 per cent). Karbonn was at number three at 10.9 per cent, followed by Nokia and Sony at 5.9 per cent each.
“In sheer volumes, the feature phone segment still dominates and is growing, while the smartphone segment is growing at a higher pace. Our success is coming from the positive consumer acceptance of our products from both these segments,” Vineet Taneja, Country Head, Samsung Mobiles and Digital Imaging business, told Business Line .
He said the company would continue giving its consumers new propositions, cutting across different price points to maintain the position.
“Samsung rose to the top spot in the Indian mobile phone market and the rise can largely be attributed to its gains in the smartphone market over the past two years,” Manasi Yadav, Senior Market Analyst at IDC's Client Devices team said.
She said the Indian smartphone market reached a total of 6.1 million units in the first quarter, a 14 per cent quarter-on-quarter growth.
“The competition between top international and local vendors remained prominent in the last quarter with Samsung, Micromax and Karbonn controlling almost two-thirds of the Indian smartphone market. However, the market remained driven by low-cost devices,” she said.
The likes of Micromax and Karbonn launched several models in the smartphone segment with compelling specifications such as 5-inch HD displays, 8 MP Camera et al, which gained them market share, she said.
According to the report, while feature phone market was at 54.6 million units, smartphone market stood at 6.1 million units.
> ronendrasingh.s@thehindu.co.in
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