New Delhi: South Korean electronics giant Samsung has emerged as the company with the largest share of 58 per cent in India’s affordable smartphone market in Q1, 2016 according to reports by Counterpoint Research. This has been possible due to the 8 million unit sales of its Galaxy J series.
The affordable smartphone segment in India falls between the price range of Rs 6,000 - Rs 15,000 and comprises of popular smartphone players including Micromax, LeEco, Vivo, Intex, Xiaomi and more. It also covers around 65 per cent of the overall smartphone market in terms of shipment volume.
An ET report citing data compiled by GfK says that Samsung's volume share in the segment also increased to 55 per cent in the quarter.
Also read: 2016 edition of Samsung Galaxy J5, J7 now available: Here’s all you need to know
"We had an overall market share of 48.6% in the first quarter of 2016," said Manu Sharma, director-mobile business at Samsung India, at the launch 2016 editions of Galaxy J7 and Galaxy J5.
Reports by Counterpoint Research revealed that Samsung in Q1, 2016, bagged a total of 40 percent market share in the affordable smartphone segment, followed by Micromax at 16 per cent and Lenovo at 11 per cent.
Tarun Pathak, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research told ET, "In 2016 smartphone players will seek growth in $100-200 (Rs 6,800-Rs 13,800) price segment to improve their profitability and margins. Most players will also try to subsidise their flagships to compete, which will make this segment one of the fastest growing this year."
However, Samsung faces tough competition in the flagship smartphone segment from Cupertino-based iPhone-maker Apple, which recently crossed the $1 billion sales figure in India.
