3G smartphone demand declines, big players move to manufacturing only 4G smartphones

With prices of the more advanced 4G devices going down and the eye-catching plans by the manufacturers, third generation smartphones will be extinct quickly. The 3G devices might be withdrawn completely in duration of 6 months.

It has been decided by the big players in the game like Samsung Electronics, Oppo, Vivo, Lenovo-Motorola, HTC, Micromax Informatics and Panasonic that they will now launch only 4G smartphones.

"We are not placing any new orders for 3G smartphones. Manufacturers are not importing any new 3G phones," Subhash Chandra, managing director of south-based retailer Sangeetha Mobiles told ET.

The country’s largest cellphone maker, Samsung, now has only three 3G smartphones in its portfolio and the remaining 22 are 4G. The company however, has yet not confirmed when it will exit 3G handsets, but has said that 4G phones are becoming the mainstream.

"Hence, they would want to take advantage of the 4G offering with higher speeds and reduced data tariff plans. The ecosystem of content, services and applications has evolved significantly, which is fuelling adoption," Manu Sharma, vice president (mobiles business) at Samsung India Electronics told ET.

Oppo India will be only selling 4G cellphones by 2017 as confirmed by the company president Sky Li. HTC president (South Asia and India) Faisal Siddiqui said with 4G smartphone prices plunging in India, it will exit 3G smartphones by March.

According to Counterpoint's senior analyst Tarun Pathak, a maturing component ecosystem will lower the pricing of entry-level 4G handsets to about $40 (about Rs 2,600) by the end of 2016.
(image:Reuters)