Micromax India's dogged focus on entry-level smartphones, competitive pricing and massive distribution network have helped it zoom past its bigger rival Samsung in the domestic market.
The latest report brought out by the market research firm Canalys shows that the local handset player cornered a 22% market share in the smartphone segment in the fourth quarter of 2014 (calendar year) compared to 20% of the South Korean mobile phone giant, which is losing market worldwide.
The same research report also puts the Indian mobile phone player at the third position in the global market.
Canalys attributes Micromax's "incredible performance partly due to its continuing appeal to mobile phone users upgrading to smart phones".
The company, which entered the market about a decade back, has grown rapidly to number one position by offering smartphones at the price of feature phones, helping consumers upgrade easily.
Rushabh Doshi, analyst with Canalys, believes Micromax was able to get to the leading position as it has its fingers on the pulse of the market. Samsung's attention on the India, on the other hand, is divided due to its global presence.
"Micromax has been quicker than its competitors to improve the appeal of devices, for example, by including a wide variety of local languages on its Unite phones. But vital to success is selling these handsets at low price points to appeal to the bulging mid-level income market in India," he said.
Doshi says Micromax's flagship product line has also very effectively targeted the Rs 9,000 to Rs 12,000 segment with models such as the Canvas Nitro and Canvas Hue.
According to, Vikrant Singh, analyst telecom research, CyberMedia Research, Micromax is predominantly operating in the fastest growing segment of the mobile phones.
"Micromax's strategy of focusing on entry-level smartphone segment – price ranging between Rs 4000 and Rs 8,000 – which is growing very rapidly has helped it grow its volumes and revenues very fast. The rate at which they have been launching new products also widened their market quickly," he said.
As per Canalys' finding overall Indian market grew at a healthy rate of 90% annually.
Singh of CyberMedia says Indian mobile handset pie is growing at a blazing pace, and every player is trying to gobble it up as fast as possible by widening its reach in the market.
Micromax's website says it sells 2.3 million mobility devices every month and is present in 560 districts and 1.25 lakh retails outlets across India.
Singh, however, said that as per CyberMedia research report, which will be published next week, Samsung is still ahead of Micromax with a gap of 3-5%.
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