Samsung has been toppled in India by a rather unknown-to-the-West budget phone maker which has pinched a 16.6% market share in the mobile market.
Micromax, with a company motto of ‘nothing like anything’, was the leading manufacturer in India in the April-June quarter, a recent research report has revealed.
Samsung left the quarter with a slightly lower 14.4% market share, a drop of 1.9% from the first quarter of the year. However, Samsung was still in the lead when it comes to the smartphone market.
Neil Shah, analyst at Counterpoint Research, which conducted the research, said: "Globally, Micromax also jumped up the rankings becoming the tenth largest handset brand in terms of mobile phone shipment volumes. This is the vendor which the mobile industry will have to keep an eye on as it expands beyond domestic markets."
Micromax came second in the smartphone segment, holding a 19.1% share against Samsung’s 25.3%. Motorola came in fourth, just behind Karbonn, with a budget Moto range boosting the firm’s appeal.
Shah said: "The surprise performance was from Motorola thanks to its attractive but leaner portfolio of Moto X/G/E and go-to-market strategy. The brand which could soon be part of Lenovo has built a strong base in the high volume India smartphone market, entering the top five rankings surpassing Nokia, Apple, Sony and others.
"We will see intensified competition in the Indian smartphone space as Asian OEMs such as Xiaomi, Gionee, Huawei and Asus enter with premium-like hardware at an aggressive price-point attracting young tech-savvy but price-conscious urban buyers."
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