While seasonality had its play in this quarter, some players also need to revisit their strategies and perhaps not rely very heavily on online sales” – Karn Chauhan, CMR Telecoms Analyst
New Delhi : Smartphone sales in India dipped 7 per cent in the first quarter this year to 19.5 million units, impacted by change in duty structure and restricted supplies from China, Cybermedia Research said.
The overall mobile handsets market in the country, including feature phones, declined 15 per cent to 53 million units in the January-March period, compared to the previous three months (October-December 2014). Of the total shipment, 37 per cent (19.5 million) devices were smartphones.
Feature phone shipments slipped over 18 per cent quarter-on-quarter in the reported period.
Korean handset maker Samsung increased its share in the smartphones segment to 27.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2015, up from 23.7 per cent in October-December 2014.
Micromax, at second spot, registered a decline in market share in smartphone segment to 16.2 per cent in the said period from 17.8 per cent in the previous quarter. Intex emerged third with 9.2 per cent market share.
“While seasonality had its play in this quarter, some players also need to revisit their strategies and perhaps not rely very heavily on online sales,” CMR Telecoms Analyst Karn Chauhan said. He added: “e-Retailing works effectively for a brand aiming for 0-5 per cent or 5-10 per cent of the market share and those without a wide portfolio like Xiaomi and OnePlus.
“But, if you are Micromax, having a double-digit market share of middle to higher order price segment handsets, trying to replicate what Xiaomi and OnePlus are doing isn’t a very good idea.”
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RCom plans sale of tower, fibre assets
New Delhi : Debt-laden telecom major Reliance Communications is looking at monetising its tower and fiber assets this fiscal to reduce debt and has appointed investment bankers for the same. The move will help the Anil Ambani-led firm substantially reduce its overall debt of about Rs 37,000 crore.
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