Samsung on Wednesday said that it continues to be a clear leader in the Indian smartphones market. Quoting GfK data, Samsung said its volume market share in the October-December 2014 quarter was 34.3% and the value market share was 35.8%.
According to Asim Warsi, Vice President, Marketing, Mobile business, Samsung India Electronics Pvt. Ltd, “In the entire year 2014, we continued to lead the market with innovative and exciting offerings. Our volume market share in the smartphone market in the year was 35.7%, which is more than double than that of the next player, while our value share was 40.2%, which is more than four times the next player. The GfK data is based on actual retail sales in 50,000-plus population cities.”
Samsung's statement comes after research firm Canalys said Micromax has ousted Samsung to become the first domestic vendor to take the top spot in the Indian smart phone market, the third largest in the world.
According market analyst firm Canalys, the change in ranking is partly due to Micromax’s continuing appeal to mobile phone users upgrading to smart phones. "Its flagship line of products has also very effectively targeted the $150 to $200 (Rs 9,000 to Rs 12,000) segment, with products such as the Canvas Nitro and Canvas Hue. Addressing these important segments has helped it take a 22 per cent share of the total smartphone market in India, ahead of Samsung at 20 per cent," Canalys said.