Micromax leapfrogs Samsung in India

An employee checks Micromax mobile phones at a showroom in New Delhi. Photo: REUTERS/FILE

Budget smartphone maker Micromax leapfrogged South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd to become the leading supplier in India's booming smartphone market for the first time in the fourth quarter, research firm Canalys said.

In a report issued on Feb. 3, Canalys said Micromax, based near New Delhi, accounted for 22 percent of smartphone sales in India in the October-December quarter, ahead of Samsung's 20 percent. In total, 21.6 million smartphones were sold in India in the period, a 90 percent surge from a year earlier.

India, which has the world's second-highest number of mobile phone accounts after China, is the third-biggest market by number of smartphones sold. Low-priced smartphones are the top sellers in a country where many buyers are upgrading from feature phones.

Micromax's performance was partly due to its "continuing appeal to mobile phone users upgrading to smartphones", Canalys said. It estimated nearly a quarter of smartphones sold in India in the fourth quarter were devices priced under $100, while 41 percent of devices sold were in the $100-$200 range.

Micromax and Samsung were followed by two other Indian budget smartphone brands, Karbonn and Lava, by number of handsets sold in fourth quarter, Canalys said.