Indian smartphone shipments rebound due to sub $100 handsets

India’s smartphone industry may be one of the fastest growing, but it still has its ups and downs. Following a sluggish start to the year, IDC research suggests a 44 percent year on year growth in smartphone shipments in Q2, with 26.5 million smartphones shipped. Shipments are also up 19 percent over the previous quarter.

Samsung retains its position as the most popular smartphone manufacturer in India, with a 23 percent share of the market, according to the data. Second place remains in the hands of Micromax on 17 percent, followed by Intex on 11 percent. Lava and Lenovo round off the top five with 7 and 6 percent, while other manufacturers accounts for the remaining third or so of the market.

Interestingly, Chinese vendors have tripled their smartphone shipments in India YoY and double them QoQ. Brands such as Lenovo, Xiaomi and HUAWEI accounted for 12 percent of the market combined. With the Chinese market beginning to slowdown, many low cost manufacturers are looking to India to prolong their success. However unlike China, consumers appear slower to make a switch over to smartphones in India, and growth is expected to take a little longer. Although the popularity of and trends towards an increasing number of e-commerce retailers and flash sales are helping manufactures to reach new consumers in India.

An important dynamic in the Indian market is price. While 20 percent of smartphones shipped in China cost less than $100, close to 50 percent of all smartphones shipped in India fall into this price category. Micromax and Intex have managed to capitalize on this market segment and Samsung has been aiming to cater to this demand with a selection of more affordable smartphones this year. Perhaps Google is right to want to realign its Android One program to target the sub $100 section of the market.

IDC anticipates that India to continue to see double digit growth for the new few years. The country is expected to surpass the US has the world’s largest smartphone market by 2017.