The smartphone sales in India have dipped by 7 percent in the first quarter of this year and have fallen to 19.5 million units.
This fall in smartphone sales is due to the fact that there has been a change in duty structure and restricted supplies from China.
The overall mobile handsets market in the country including feature phones have declined by 15 percent to 53 million units in the starting three months of 2015.
CMR Lead Analyst Telecoms Research, Faisal Kawoosa stated that the announcements of major handsets and entry of some new brands in the last quarter of 2014 there wasn’t really something that was very exciting in the market for the Indian customers. This also led to a fall in smartphone sales in the first quarter of 2015.
Apart from what Mr. Faisal stated the change in duty structure and consequent impact on the supply chain due to Chinese New Year festivities have equally contributed to the market contraction.
However the South Korean manufacturer Samsung was able to increase its share in the smartphones segment to 27.9 percent in the first quarter of 2015.
Moreover Mr. Faisal also stated that the ability of Samsung to add to its portfolio in all the major price segments within smartphones by launching new smartphones in each of the entry levels it led to an increase in sales for the company.
Then there was CMR Telecoms Analyst Karn Chauhan who stated that the even though seasonality had its play on the first quarter most of the players also have a dire need to revisit their strategies and perhaps not just rely on online sales.
He also explained that online sales are only effective for a brand that aims for 0-5 percent or 5-10 percent of the market share.
