Smartphone companies brawl it out to control the Indian market

Samsung and Micromax are the two prime smartphone makers in India. They claim a whopping 48% of the Indian smartphone market. The individual percentage shares are however debatable.

Five other manufacturers are currently battling it out for the thrird, fourth to fifth spot. The list includes India’s Intex, Lava and Karbonn, and Xiaomi and Motorola from overseas. The recent dramatic price cuts is enough proof of the turbulence in the world’s second largest smartphone market.

The rankings change almost every quarter, highlighting the volatility of the Indian market and the intensity of the contest.

The companies have surely learnt from the failures of Nokia and BlackBerry. Finland’s mobile giant which commanded 70% of India’s market share in 2011 was forced to sell its devices business to Microsoft in 2014, thanks to players like Micromax.

It currently takes a rival company around two months to come out with a cheaper phone with the same features and specifications. This means the expected life of a new phone model has decreased to hardly five/six months. Companies have to pour in huge money into marketing in these few months to cash in to their new design.

Modi’s Make in India is also likely to see companies battling to price their phones at the cheapest possible rate, thanks to the local manufacturing possibilities.

(Image credit: Indiatimes)