GFK reports that Samsung is the market leader in smartphone segment in India, widens lead over Micromax.
According to a new report, Samsung Electronics had a larger share than Micromax of India's smartphone market in September, while Nokia took third spot. The report showed that domestic mobile manufacturers Lava and Karbonn are on the fourth and fifth spot.
Research firm GFK's data for July, August and September showed that Samsung Electronics held a 33% market share at the end of the period after gaining over a percentage point from August. Domestic manufacturer Micromax was second with more than 18% market share while Microsoft owned Nokia, was at number 3 with 12% share.
According to the report, in the wider market which includes feature phones, Samsung held about a fourth of the market share while Nokia was at the No. 2 spot with 21% market share. Micromax came in third with 13.5% share.
GFK numbers, which it claims are based on actual sales, shows a contrast with the report published by CounterPoint Research, Cybermedia Research (CMR) and International Data Corporation (IDC), for April-June quarter, which had stated that the gap was closing between Samsung and Micromax.
Hong Kong-based Counterpoint Research had stated that Micromax was the leading overall handset vendor with 16.6% market share in the April-June period, while Samsung had 14.4% share. The report had stated that Samsung was still the leader in the smartphone market, however the Indian vendor was catching up quickly.
Counterpoint's director of research, Neil Shah, stated that the preliminary data for the July-September period also showed the same trend, with Samsung trailing Micromax in the overall market, but the reverse in the smartphone segment.
"We track shipments, i.e. what is sold into the channel from the OEM and that is pan-India and not sell-through in our quarterly Market Monitor program," Shah said, explaining the difference in methodology compared to GFK.
A spokesperson for Samsung India did not comment on market share figures specifically, but stated that Samsung is a clear leader in the mobile handsets business across price categories.
Also read: India to become the second biggest smartphone market by 2019
Source: TOI
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Silky Malhotra
Silky Malhotra loves learning about new technology, gadgets, and more. When she isn’t writing, she is usually found reading, watching Netflix, gardening, travelling, or trying out new cuisines. View Full Profile
