Samsung basks in the Indian mobile device growth glory

The mobile handset market will grow steadily for the next four years to cross 326 million units, Gartner added.

“The Indian mobile phone market is very competitive with more than 150 device manufacturers selling devices to consumers,” said Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner.

Most of these manufacturers remain focused on the low-cost feature phone market which still constitutes over 91% of overall mobile phone sales, offering a huge market to compete in.

Samsung’s brand strength and wide device portfolio has allowed it to take advantage of the high growth opportunities in Indian market. Samsung’s share has risen from 15% in the first quarter of 2011 to nearly 50% in the second quarter of 2012.

If Samsung continues this strong growth, it could end 2012 with more than 60 percent share — exactly where Nokia was at the start of 2011, Gartner predicted.

“The increase in share of smartphone device sales, declining sales to first time buyers and the continuous focus of global manufacturers on the low cost feature phone market, has put many of the 150 plus local and Chinese device manufacturers under survival mode. Many of them are already struggling to maintain share in the growing market,” Gupta added.

Some of these local and Chinese manufacturers are building capabilities, distribution and brand to compete with the big global players as they are preparing to compete at a larger level covering broader consumer segments, the firm noted.

Manufacturers popular in India such as ZTE, Micromax, Huawei, Karbonn Mobile, stand at sixth, seventh, eleventh and twelfth in the Indian smartphone market in the first half of 2012 and are expanding their smartphone portfolio to compete at a larger level with big global manufacturers Samsung and Nokia which held the first and second position respectively.