Can Samsung Hold Its Fort?

The long undisputed numero uno of Indian mobile market is under increasing pressure from new challengers and old warriors alike; can the upgraded manufacturing facality help it retain its grip?

- Haider Ali Khan

Samsung has been the undisputed market leader of Indian mobile market for long – both in smartphones as well as feature phones. Till the first quarter of 2017, it had an enviable share of 27 percent of Indian smartphone market in volume. Xiaomi, though was climbing fast and was number two at the time but was still way behind Samsung with 14% of all shipments. Vivo was another Chinese vendor doing extremely well with 10% market share. But come Q1 2018, rather even before it, Xiaomi with 31% had overtaken the Korean giant in volume terms which had stagnated at 26.5% while Xiaomi had been pacing ahead. And with players like Vivo, Huawei, Nokiaunleashing spec-filled and competitively priced handsets, the pressure on Samsung is going to mount even more in coming months.

However, it is really the feature phone space where the plight of Samsung is so starkly visible. In Q1, 2017, Samsung had a market share of 25.4%, making it a leader by big margin. The number two spot was held by iTel with 15.9 percent. But with the arrival of Jio and revival of Nokia, the Samsung stronghold crumbled. By Q1, 2018, its share had come down to a pitiable 9.8% while Jio had captured 35.8% of market share. Nokia had an astounding run, going from zero to 7.3%. As per market estimate, Nokia will gain more market share.