Th etop five brands captured nearly 70% of the total market share.
Smartphone shipments in India grew 15% to 29 million units in March quarter compared to the year-ago period, with top five brands capturing almost 70% of total segment, research firm Counterpoint said.
India is one of the world's largest and among the fastest growing smartphone markets. With sales slowing down in mature markets like the US and Europe, handset makers are expanding their presence in the Indian market, bringing in the best devices from their portfolio.
During the said quarter, Samsung continued to lead the market with 26% share, followed by Chinese players Xiaomi (13%), Vivo (12%), Oppo (10%) and Lenovo (8%).
Overall, the mobile handset market grew by six% in the January-March 2017 quarter, with smartphones and feature phones contributing equal share.
Samsung led the tally here too with 26% share, followed by itel (nine%), Micromax (eight%), Xiaomi (seven%) and Vivo (six%).
"India s smartphone market is witnessing a focus shift in distribution strategy by major brands. Offline brands like OPPO, vivo and Gionee have now started focusing on online channels as well to gain extra market share," Countrepoint Research Analyst Karn Chauhan said.
He added that online-only brands like Xiaomi and Motorola are moving fast into offline markets to widen their reach to the mass market, addressing consumers in tier II and III cities.
The mid-end segment (Rs 15,000-20,000) witnessed the highest growth of 158% year-on-year during the said quarter. Most of the growth in the category was driven by Samsung, OPPO, vivo, Gionee, and Motorola.
The premium segment (over Rs 30,000) grew at 35% year-on-year with Samsung accounting for 48% market share, followed closely by Apple at 43%. OnePlus, OPPO and Google made it to the top five in this segment, but each with marginal shares.
Shobhit Srivastava, Research Analyst at Counterpoint, said the ASP (average selling price) of smartphones in India increased by Rs 2,000 during the March quarter compared to the year-ago period.
"The reason for the increase in ASP is the growing number of users that are upgrading to the high-end specifications offered by brands in the Rs 8,000-20,000 price segment," he added.
(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
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