In India, Low-Cost Local Smartphone Maker Micromax Usurps Samsung's No. 1 Spot

Homegrown budget cellphone maker Micromax, which put affordable smartphones into the hands of millions of Indians, has overtaken global brand Samsung in the India market, according to research firm Canalys. The development is significant as India is the world’s fastest-growing smartphone market and is set to overtake the United States (which itself trails China) to become the world’s second-largest market by smartphone sales.
Samsung disputed the data and said it still held the top spot with a market share of 34% in the Oct-Dec 2014 quarter. With rival brands quoting rival research firms and different measures (Micromax quotes shipments while Samsung bandies sales numbers), this could turn out to be a slug fest.
As in the neighboring China where homegrown Xiaomi rules, in India too a domestic brand has annexed the top spot. Micromax is said to be contemplating an initial public offering of its shares.
Samsung’s struggles in the global smartphone market have worsened as the high-end Apple AAPL +0.83% with its iPhone's has caught up with the South Korean maker in the last quarter of 2014. At the same time, low-cost smartphone makers like Micromax in India and Xiaomi in China are biting away at its market share at the other end.
















A analysis report said Delhi-based Micromax grew to 22% share of smartphone shipments in the last quarter of 2014 while Samsung’s share decreased to 20%.

Micromax is known for innovative features like dual SIM phones and QWERTY keypads and introduced the first budget smartphone with a quad-core processor – all of which holds high appeal to millions of cost-conscious Indians transitioning from feature phones to the more sophisticated smartphones.
Micromax has a large portion of the budget smartphone market in a country where sub $100 phones account for most sales. Micromax has been quicker than its competitors to improve the appeal of devices by including a wide variety of local languages on its phones for instance, Canalys analyst Rushabh Doshi has been quoted as saying.
In 2013 the aggressive Micromax signed on Hollywood actor Hugh Jackman for its advertising campaign, sponsors cricket games and tweaks prices and offers a wide range of models to appeal to every segment of buyers in India.
About 22 million smartphones were sold in the country in the quarter ending in December, a 90% increase from the same period the year before. Two other Indian brands Karbonn and Lava are among the top five smartphone makers in the country.