While some markets have seen a stagnation or even a dip in its smartphone sales figures, India is apparently enjoying an increase in shipments, particularly for the 2nd quarter of this year which saw 31 million units reach the South Asian country, signaling a 19% growth. And the good news for Android is that 97% of the marketshare belongs to Google’s mobile platform. These figures are from the latest research of Strategy Analytics bringing figures from the second quarter of this year 2016.
India is the world’s second most populous nation and has also emerged as the third largest smartphone market, next only to China and the US. And at least for this year’s second quarter, it grew 19% compared to the same time last year. Android dominated the market, shipping 29.8 million smartphones to the country, which is an increase of 28% from Q2 last year. The 97% market share is also huge and is an increase of 90% from just a year ago.
The growth in this market can be attributed to a previously low smartphone penetration rate. This year has seen more OEMs try to get into this market, offering low-cost devices that can do almost everything else that the more expensive ones can. According to Rajeev Nair, a senior analyst at Strategy Analytics, the rise of the middle class that has more disposable income, and the intense competition from vendors, retailers, and operators have all contributed to these good numbers.
A lot of the smartphone makers have now been turning their eye to emerging markets like India as the US and even Europe has probably reached its saturation point and growth isn’t that big or significant anymore. We’re also seeing the numbers of Apple’s iPhones taking a huge dip, paving the way for more Android devices and maybe even more platforms in the future.
SOURCE: Strategy Analytics
