The Indian mobile handset market posted revenues of Rs 35,946 crore in the last financial year, up 14.7 per cent, compared with Rs 31,330 crore in the previous year.
Samsung dethroned Nokia from the top position, a Voice & Data (V&D) report said on Tuesday.
The Finnish handset maker had been holding the fort for over a decade. This was mainly due to the increasing uptake in smartphones by Indian consumers, it said.
The 18th annual survey ‘V&D 100’ covered over 30 mobile handset companies doing business in India across categories like feature phones, multimedia phones, enterprise phones and smartphones.
Both multi-national and Indian mobile phone firms were surveyed for this report, the report said.
Samsung’s rise in the Indian market is attributed to its rich product portfolio that was able to cater to customers of all budget categories. Samsung handset prices range from Rs 1,500 to Rs 50,000.
Samsung mobile handsets come in varied screen sizes. These two factors helped the company grab the customers’ attention, besides product quality and new features, it said.
Samsung ended the year with revenues of Rs 11,328 crore compared with Rs 7,891 crore in the previous year showing a growth of 43.6 per cent. The company also became the market leader with 31.5 per cent market share.
In the 12 months ended March 2013, Nokia’s revenues from Indian operations were recorded at Rs 9,780 crore compared to Rs 11,925 crore in the previous financial year.
Nokia’s drop in market share started when the company failed to sense the need of a dual-SIM phone for the Indian consumer, and the same was tapped by Indian companies, years ahead of their global competitors like Nokia, the V&D report said.
Homegrown company Micromax captured the number three position among V&D100 Top10 mobile handset brands for 2013. By the end of the last financial year, the company posted revenues of Rs 3,138 crore compared with Rs 1,978 crore in the previous year. The company has a market share of 8.7 per cent.
Closing in next is Karbonn Mobiles that grew 73 per cent to register revenues of Rs 2,297 crore against Rs 1,327 crore in the previous financial year, the report added.