According to market research firm Canalys, the Indian mobile market has grown to 30 million units with a 20% year on year growth in Q3 2016. Samsung, that was affected by the Note 7 disaster, grew along with the market and held on to a lead share of over 20%. Lenovo comes second followed by Micromax.
Lenovo Takes Second Place
Local players such as Micromax, Intex and Lava have seen a decrease in the country allowing Chinese smartphone makers Lenovo and Xiaomi to take advantage of this. Lenovo for the first time reached the second position, displacing Micromax.
“Indian consumers are increasingly looking past local players’ smart phones in favor of international brands. There is ongoing portfolio consolidation as local players change their product strategies, emphasizing the 4G-enabled models that are now becoming mainstream. Besides having a strong LTE portfolio, channel strategy is increasingly important for smart phone success.” said Rushabh Doshi, Canalys Analyst.
Xiaomi, which saw a huge demand for its Redmi Note 3 has doubled its Q2 2016 shipments to reach the fourth position. The research firm has cited Lenovo’s focus on offline channels as the reason for its growth.
The report adds that India is now Xiaomi’s second biggest market, after China. With the Redmi Note 3 and the Redmi 3S, Xiaomi has the opportunity to capture the budget smartphone market.
“Lenovo’s focus on offline channels and Xiaomi’s move away from being an online-only vendor have clearly helped. Xiaomi’s shipments grew by almost 170% year on year, with its strongest quarter taking it to fourth place in an increasingly competitive market,’ said Rushabh Doshi, Canalys Analyst. ‘Despite its smart phone shipments halving, Micromax held onto third place, but it is coming under pressure from Xiaomi and fifth-placed Lyf.” adds Doshi.
