Micromax became the leading mobile phone supplier brand in India

According to our latest research from Market Monitor program of Counterpoint Research.  , there were significant changes in the competitive landscape in the second largest mobile phone market on planet.

Some key findings below: 

• Indian mobile phone market grew a modest  2% annually but the smartphone segment grew a handsome 68% annually as demand for feature phones fell 16% annually in Q2 2014
• Majority of growth in smartphone segment during the quarter was driven by long tail of local and other Asian brands operating in this huge market
• Indian brands together captured more than two-thirds of the total mobile phone shipments and more than half of the smartphone shipments
• Micromax became the leading mobile phone supplier brand in India in Q2 2014 for the first time ever surpassing Samsung capturing 17% market share up from 13% in Q1 2014
• Micromax was also the  second largest smartphone vendor closing in on Samsung, capturing 19% share in this fast growing segment
• Micromax has widened the gap with the third largest smartphone player as the race for the third place is up for grabs with fierce competition between Karbonn, Motorola, Celkon, Nokia, Apple and Sony
• Micromax also became the leading feature phone supplier overtaking Nokia for the first time
• Globally, Micromax also jumped up the rankings becoming the tenth largest handset brand in terms of mobile phone shipment volumes
• This is the vendor which mobile industry will have to keep an eye on as it expands beyond domestic markets
• The surprise performance was  from Motorola thanks to its attractive but leaner portfolio of Moto X/G/E and go-to-market strategy. The brand which could soon be part of Lenovo has built a strong base in the high volume India smartphone market, entering the top five rankings surpassing Nokia, Apple, Sony and others
• We will see intensified competition in the Indian smartphone space as Asian OEMs such as Xiaomi, Gionee, Huawei and Asus enter with premium-like hardware at an aggressive price-point attracting young tech-savvy but price-conscious urban buyers
• However, these brands will have to work hard on their brand awareness, distribution and service networkto continue the growth beyond the early spike in demand in this very important mobile phone market

Power of smartphones in Indian hands

The India smartphone market grew by a whopping 186% year-on-year in Q1 2014, making it the highest growing market in Asia Pacific.

The sharp growth trend is also seen across Asia-Pacific region which, IDC says, will also see a large increase in devices under the BYOD model. 

Source : Economictimes

Top 5 Smartphone Companies Selling In India Q2 2013, Samsung, Micromax, Karbonn, Nokia, Sony.

According to IDC’s Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, India smartphone market almost tripled its shipments year over year (YoY) in the second quarter of 2013 Q2 (2Q13). Vendors shipped a total of 9.3 million smartphones in 2Q13 compared to 3.5 million units in the same period of 2012. 2Q13 grew by more than 50% over the units shipped in the first quarter of 2013 (1Q13). The 5.0-6.99 inch screen size smartphones, or phablets, grew 17 times YoY and the phablet share has steadily risen to 30% of the smartphone market in 2Q13.

While Samsung and Nokia still dominate the Indian market, their share has been steadily dropping driven by intense competition from local vendors. Amongst the local vendors, most of the bigger ones have successfully transitioned their lead in feature phones to smartphones, including Micromax, Karbonn, Lava, Intex and Celkon.

“The key for growth in this market, as with most emerging markets, is a low-priced phone equipped with a large screen and dual SIM slots,” says Kiranjeet Kaur, Senior Market Analyst with IDC’s Client Devices group.

“The dual SIM phenomena, which had accelerated the growth of local vendors in feature phone, turned to dual SIM smartphones flooding the Indian market. Topped with an attractive Sub-US$200 price tag, these smartphones are highly attractive,” she adds. The share of Sub-US$200 smartphones in 2Q13 accounted for two-thirds of the total smartphone market.

Top 5 Smartphone Companies Selling In India 

Samsung: Samsung maintained its leadership in 2Q13, with newly launched Samsung Galaxy Star bringing in huge volumes at the low end. The other mid-tier smartphones also helped Samsung cater to the wide range of smartphone consumers in the Indian market. The cash-back and zero percent interest EMI schemes have worked in favor of Samsung over the last quarter, specifically for products such as the Galaxy Note II.

Micromax: Micromax stayed steady at No. 2 spot and crossed the 2 million units mark in shipments. This vendor is banking on the wave of Phablet-driven smartphone & is pushing the Canvas range of devices with bigger screens and compelling imaging capabilities.

Karbonn: The smartphone shipments for Karbonn have also increased steadily over the last quarter. Apart from the A series of smartphone devices, the newly launched Titanium range are picking up in the Indian market. These phones boast of high specifications at competitive prices, a must in the price-sensitive Indian consumer market.

Nokia: With the company’s decision to discontinue Symbian devices, the entire focus has moved to the Windows Phone-based Lumia range of smartphones. The recently launched Lumia 520 helped Nokia pick up volumes towards the lower end. The dedicated advertising and marketing push towards positioning Lumia phones as a quicker and cooler replacement to other brands is working in its favor. 
Sony: Sony regained fifth position in the pecking order, with its mid-tier range of phones doing well, with the lower-end dual SIM phones are adding growth as are affordable EMI options available in the market through retailers.

Indian Handset Brands Conquer Smart Mobile Phone Market.

A few years ago no one could think beyond Nokia or Samsung while buying a phone. Then, sometime in 2008, brands such as Micromax came into the market and took away a cool 25 per cent share in just two years. These players saw a gap in the market with dual SIM phones, something which the global brands did not have.

Home-grown vendor Micromax now commands the third position in the overall handset market after Nokia and Samsung. In the smartphone segment, Micromax and Karbonn came in after Samsung, according to analyst firm Cyber Media Research.

“Home-grown vendors rose banking on the dual-SIM (two SIM-cards in a handset) phenomenon. Offerings were restricted. And we established ourselves,” S.N. Rai, Co-Founder and Director, Lava Mobile.

Intex’s Sanjay Kumar Kalirona too admits that dual-SIM was the game changer for the rise of home-grown vendors. The market peaked between 2009 and 2011. The number of local handset vendors grew to 28 from five (2008-09); increased to nearly 400 (in 2010-11); and consolidated to 150 (by 2012-13). “We led the way with sub-categories like the long-battery life and dual-SIM phones. These were based on consumer demands of the time,” Rahul Sharma, co-founder, Micromax said.

According to Katyayan Gupta, Analyst at Forrester Research, the Indian brands have now grown beyond the dual-SIM phenomenon. “Apart from attractive prices and multiple SIM options, Indian vendors sold handsets that had features which were then restricted to high-end devices,” Gupta added.

PRICE DIFFERENCE

Indian players also ensured that they played on the pricing. The best of features that came in the MNC brands had a price tag varying between Rs 8,000 and Rs 11,000(Approx US$ 150-200). The sweet-spot (or popular models) remained between Rs 5,000 and Rs 6,000(Approx US$ 90-100).

“The fight boiled down to the mid-end segment. MNCs didn’t have offerings at varied price points. The Indian brands capitalised with similar offerings at lower price,” Ajjay Agarwal, CMD, Maxx Mobile, pointed out.

“We improved on available options and ensured similar features of MNC brands at affordable costs. We invested in the brand,” Sashin Devsare, Executive Director, Karbonn Mobiles, said.

Source: Business Line

Smart Phones Vs. Tablets

When and where consumers use their smartphones and tablets.

Smartphones aren't tablets and vice-verse. The first place to find proof that all devices aren't created equal. The kind of content and services being accessed by smartphone and tablet users are very different. While visitors largely use tablets for what's called “lazy internet”—consuming media and content, as well as browsing—they tend to prefer smartphones primarily for communication, content snacking, and using mobile apps.

Tablets are portable, while smartphones are pocket-able  So tablets are mostly used in the living room, while smartphones are used within the home and also on the go. Mobile phones are also the most personal devices we use, while tablets are often shared with spouses, partners, or children.

Micromax, Karbonn Are In Top 3 In Indian Smart Phone Market After Samsung.

India imported 73.5 million mobile phones during the first four months of this year, registering a growth of 11 per cent as compared to corresponding period last year.

According to a CyberMedia Research (CMR) report, in the smartphones category, the market grew by 167 per cent on an annual basis during January-April to 9.4 million units.

While Nokia was number one company in the overall mobile handsets market with 20.3 per cent, Samsung was the leader in the smartphones segment with 40.7 per cent, said the report.

The India smartphones market also saw the entry of two local vendors (Micromax and Karbonn) amongst the top three positions for the first time, displacing tier-I international players.

“This shows that market dynamics have changed in the India smartphones segment. One of the key reasons for this is that a large number of feature phone users are migrating to entry-level smartphones,” Tarun Pathak, Analyst, CMR Telecoms Practice said.

He said the trend of dominance of the India smartphones market by local vendors is likely to continue during the coming year.“It is expected to sustain, till such time as one of the tier-I international players like Nokia, BlackBerry, HTC or Sony Mobiles launch a sustained marketing and promotion drive to regain share or introduce a new, potentially disruptive mobile device technology,” he added.

Technology 1993 vs 2013, Smart Phones Have Replaced Video Camera, Walkman, Pager And Even Laptops, Watches

1993: Apple Newton MessagePad, 100, JVC Video Camcorder, Apple PowerBook 160, Motorola DynaTAC cell phone, Polaroid OneStep, Sony Sports Walkman cassette player, pager and a digital watch.

2013: iPhone

Top 5 Best Internet Browsers For Android Smart Mobile Phones and Tablets in 2013 - Google Chrome, Dolphin, Opera, Maxthon and Fennec Firefox

I am going to list down 5 best Android web browsers which will make your web browsing faster, secure and fun.

Google Chrome

Google Chrome is world’s most used browser and is one of the best  browsers for android devices. Within very short period of time the Android Version of Google Chrome has hit the top list of best web browsers for android.  

However like its desktop version it does not support Adobe Flash. Another down side of the app is that it does not run on older versions of Android.

Some of the best features of Google Chrome for Android are:

= Go Incognito (also known as InPrivate in Mozilla Firefox)

=Accelerated browsing, scrolling and double tap to zoom.

=Unlimited number of tabs 

=Auto fill forms & Save passwords options 

=Bandwidth Management & Developers tools

Dolphin Browser HD

Dolphin Browser HD  is a convenient browser and very well known for its compatibility with Android devices. This browser also allows to enhance your browsing experience by simply installation of additional Add-ons. Also you can search for stuff in smarter and faster way by using this browser.

Some of the best features of Dolphin Browser are:

=fast page loading speed,

=easy to use GUI,

=wide range of themes,

=High level of trust and stability.

Opera Mobile/Mini Web Browser

Opera Mobile is another best web browser for the Android platform. Being one of the oldest browser in the mobile world, this browser seems to have all the basic features which are required for mobile browsing. This browser is also faster in loading web pages and supports multiple tabs feature. It has Twitter and Facebook’s built in sharing option to share interesting pages with your social networks. Opera Mobile Web browse is available for both phones and tablets.

Fennec/Firefox

Another fast and free browser for your Android device. It fully supports Firefox Sync. Using this feature you can quickly import all of your browsing history and open tabs from the desktop to your android device easily. Firefox for android also comes with a “Awesome Page” start screen that shows you all of your recently visited tabs. It also supports add-ons and Personas, although they are available in very less numbers.

Maxthon

Maxthon Mobile Web Browser for Android comes with a lots of cool features to make your mobile browsing fast and secure. Using Maxthon you can browse all of your favorite websites in true full screen mode. This browser also allows you to Create your own touch screen commands to surf with your fingertips and supports add-ons like RSS Reader, Missed Calls, File Manager, Task Killer and many more.