Samsung loses pole position in India smartphone market to Micromax | HT Tech

Samsung loses pole position in India smartphone market to Micromax

Budget smartphone maker Micromax leapfrogged South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd to become the leading supplier in India's booming smartphone market for the first time in the fourth quarter, research firm Canalys said.

By: HT CORRESPONDENT
| Updated on: Feb 04 2015, 23:36 IST
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Domestic budget smartphone maker Micromax and South Korea's Samsung Electronics are slugging it out in the Indian market, making claims and counter claims for the pole position.

Research firm Canalys in a report said Samsung has been dethroned as the country's largest smartphone vendor by Micromax, but the Korean giant disputed this saying it still remains at the top.

Micromax accounts for 22% of the smartphone shipments in India for the October-December quarter, up by 1% from the previous quarter, whereas Samsung's market share fell by 2% to 20% in the fourth quarter, the report stated.

However, Samsung refuted the Canalys report saying it had 34.3% market share in the Indian smartphone market as per GfK data, putting it ahead of the domestic rival.

"As per GfK data, which is based on actual sales, Samsung's volume market share in the October-December 2014 quarter was 34.3% and the value market share was 35.8%," Samsung said in a statement released on Wednesday.

Samsung added that the market research firm GfK gives actual sales figures, which is why it is preferred by the industry.

"The GfK data is based on actual retail sales in 50,000-plus population cities," Asim Warsi, vice-president, marketing, mobile business, Samsung India, told HT, adding that the company continues to be the leader.

Experts say that the two companies need to agree on a common study.

"There can be no clear verdict till both the companies agree to have a joint study, by a single research firm... If not globally, at least it can be undertaken in India," said NK Goyal, founder of CMAI, a professional association for promotion of Indian IT and Telecom Sectors.

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First Published Date: 04 Feb, 10:34 IST
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