The fat lady has sung — Nokia is out.
CyberMedia, which perhaps was the only research agency that still claimed that handset maker Nokia continued to dominate the Indian market, has put out a new report that concurs with its counterparts in saying that Samsung is now the new market leader.
According to the agency’s annual Voice & Data (V&D) 2012-13 report, Samsung now boasts 31.5 per cent market share — and ended the year with revenues of Rs.11,328 crore.
This is compared to the Rs.7,891 crore in revenue it clocked the previous year.
Nokia, which has been holding the fort for over a decade, on the other hand, now commands a market share of 27.2 per cent. Adding to the injury is a drop in the Finnish handset maker’s India revenues.
In the 12 months ended March, 2013, Nokia’s revenues from Indian operations were recorded at Rs.9,780 crore — a substantial drop from the Rs.11,925 crore clocked in the previous financial year. While news of Samsung’s ascent first came nearly a year ago — it has been hotly disputed amongst leading research agencies; this latest report indicates that a consensus of sorts has now been found.
According to the report, Samsung’s rise in the Indian market is mainly attributed to the company’s wide price range and that its handsets come in varied screen sizes.
The 18th annual survey ‘V&D’ 100 covered over 30 mobile handset companies doing business in India across categories like feature phones, multimedia phonesand smartphones.
At the lower end of the smartphone battle, local player Micromax has placed number three — with a market share of 8.7 per cent.
The Indian mobile handset market, on the whole, posted revenues of Rs.35,946 crore in the last financial year, up 14.7%.
