Smartphone shipments tripled in India last year - Times of India

NEW DELHI: As millions of consumers ditched their feature phones, the sale of smartphones in India exploded in 2013. In its annual report on Wednesday, IDC said the smartphone shipment in the country nearly tripled last year compared to 2012. In total, 44 million smartphones were shipped in India, mostly in low and mainstream segments, marking a big increase from 16.2 million in 2012.

In terms of year-on-year quarterly growth, Q4 of 2013 saw an increase of 181% in the number of smartphones shipped in the Indian market. The overall phone market saw a growth of 18% as 257 million phones were shipped in 2013 compared to 218 million in 2012.

"The growth in the smartphone market is being propelled by the launch of lowend , cost-competitive devices by international and local vendors which are narrowing the price gaps that exist between feature phones and smartphones ," said Manasi Yadav, a senior market analyst with IDC India.

Given that a bulk (78%) of the phone market in India still consists of feature phones, 2014 is likely to witness a similar explosive growth in smartphone adoption. According to a UKbased research agency Mediacells , Indian consumers are likely to buy 225 million smartphones in 2014, making India the second biggest market behind China, where consumers will buy almost 283 million smartphones. In comparison, mature markets like the US are witnessing slower growth. According to Mediacells, around 89 million smartphones will be sold in the US in 2014.

In India, local brands have benefitted significantly as consumers shift from feature phones to smartphones.

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