Indian smartphone market jumps 48% in 2012

According to the latest information from IDC, the Indian smartphone market expanded 48% in 2012 to 16.3 million units. That compares with the 16% gain in the overall mobile phone market in the country for 2012 to 218 million units. Even though the growth in smartphones for the year was three times higher than the growth in the overall market for 2012, in India featurephones still command nearly 91% of the country's mobile phone market. Smartphones are closing the gap as featurephones held a 92.8% share at the beginning of last year. For the fourth quarter, smartphones rose 38% sequentially vs.a 5% drop for featurephones.

While Samsung is the top smartphone manufacturer in India based on shipments, local brands pricing models for less than $100 were serious competitors. That sector and the $100-$200 smartphones made by global producers, were the two fastest growing niches in India. Units with screens larger than 4 inches and with dual-core processors were becoming popular in the area.

Apple had the second highest revenue of any smartphone manufacturer in the country during the quarter, thanks to the release of the Apple iPhone 5 during the period. Despite that, Android remains the dominant OS with iOS and Windows Phone 8 expected to close the gap in the future. According to William Stofega, IDC’s program director for mobile device, Windows Phone 8 units accounted for 289,000 of the 5.4 million smartphones sold in the fourth quarter for a 5.4% market share, putting it ahead of iOS in the country.

After Samsung, Micromax was the second largest smartphone vendor in the fourth quarter based on shipments. Sony was third thanks to huge sales of its mid-tier ($150-$300) handsets. Nokia's Lumia phones also did well in the mid-tier segment, allowing the Finnish manufacturer to claim the spot behind Sony as the fourth largest smartphone OEM in India during Q4. Rounding out the top 5 was Karbonn, a local company making its first appearance in the top 5.

source: IDC via WMPoweruser