Online retailers drive smartphone sales in India

International Data Corp. (IDC) has revealed that the smartphone market in India rose 44 per cent in the three months ended 30 June. This growth came as a result of increased sales through online retailers such as Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon. In fact, the market research firm said smartphone shipments increased to 26.5 million from 18.4 million for the same period last year.

"etailers (online retailers) have opened additional avenues for growth for many vendors in India, who would have otherwise struggled to get a hold in the complex distribution network," said Kiran Kumar, research manager with IDC India's mobile phone team. "The share of smartphone shipments through etailers increased for most of the key vendors in Q2."

Chinese vendors have tripled their YoY shipments and doubled it QoQ. Lenovo Corp, Xiaomi Corp, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd and Gionee Communication Equipment Co. together accounted for 12 per cent of the total smartphone market in 2Q15, double from a year ago, the report stated.

Smartphone shipments increased to 26.5 million from 18.4 million. Photo: Bloomberg

"As China started to slow down, most vendors from the country have targeted India as the next big growth market for smartphones," said Kiranjeet Kaur, research manager with IDC's Asia-Pacific mobile phone team.

The new entrants to the Indian market have utilised specific strategies like flash sales through online retailers, Kaur said.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd maintained its top position with 23 per cent market share in smartphones, while Micromax Informatics Ltd captured 17 per cent market share and Intex Technologies (India) Ltd 11 per cent. Lava International Ltd (seven per cent) and Lenovo (six per cent) also made it to the top five smartphone manufacturers in the country.

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