The research shows Micromax and Samsung led the tablet sales in 2012 while Android emerged as the top OS. As many as 72 vendors shipped tablets in India during the year.
More than 3 million tablets were sold in 2012 with more than 1 million shipped in the last quarter of the year, reveals the latest report by Cyber Media Research (CMR). Android dominated as the top operating system following by iOS and Windows. Moreover, Micromax and Samsung emerge as the top vendors in India, says the CMR report.
To be precise, as many as 3.11 million units were sold in 2012, while 1.09 million units were sold in the October-December 2012 period, which accounted for 35.33 percent of the total shipments for the entire year.
“The year 2012 and particularly the last two quarters (3Q 2012 and 4Q 2012) were significant for the India Tablets market. We have seen the market for these devices grow substantially in 2012, particularly in the second half which made up for over 70% of the total sales,” says Faisal Kawoosa, Lead Telecoms Analyst, CMR.
Emergence of Phablets
The Cyber Media research also points out the emergence of the ‘Phablet’ segment. According to the report, phablets constituted around 16.5 percent of the total sales and this trend is expected to strengthen in the coming quarters. Moreover, the user profiles, market dynamics and the product orientation of ‘phablets’ are very different from that of tablets. In the light of these trends, CMR has decided to reclassify the Tablets market into two separate segments – Phablets and Tablets – starting CY 2013.
Commenting on this decision, Kawoosa stated, “At CMR we used to consider Tablet as a device with screen size of 5-inch or larger. But, with the definite emergence of ‘Phablets’ as a sustainable form factor in its own right, we will now consider only devices of 7-inch screen size and above as Tablets for the purpose of market analysis. Other parameters of the CMR definition of Tablet devices will remain unchanged. Moreover, we will continue to track and report ‘Phablets’ as a separate category of mobile device in the hands of individual consumers and enterprise users.”
Micromax, Samsung dominate the tablet market
According to the report, the Indian manufacturer Micromax emerged the top vendor for the ‘tablets with 7-inch screen and above screen-size’. Apple and Samsung stood at the second and third position respectively, in 2012
For the fourth quarter of 2012, Micromax, Karbonn and DataWind emerged as the top three tablet vendors in India.
“Samsung has been able to maintain the lead in the market only because of the first-mover advantage with the Galaxy Note and the Galaxy Note II. But this is not a sustainable strategy in the long term, as it has resulted in creation of the new ‘Phablet’ form factor, attracting competitors at both ends of the price spectrum to follow suit. With the entrance of Apple at the top end and multiple Chinese and Indian players at the entry-level, the Phablet segment is only going to see increased competition in the foreseeable future,” says Tarun Pathak, Telecoms Analyst, CMR.
“This is also proved if we look at the same market with the new perspective of ‘Phablets’ being a separate and distinct category, based on the revised CMR definition for Tablets starting CY 2013. The market rankings for CY 2012 and change altogether with Samsung witnessing a major change in its standing. So if Samsung has to be a strong brand in the Tablet market, it has to adopt a long term sustainable strategy along with nurturing the ‘Phablets’”, concluded Tarun.
Check out the complete CMR study here.