Indian Mobile Market Plunges for the First Time in 20 Years
India’s mobile market has developed over the past few years. Every global firm is eyeing to set up a manufacturing plant in the country, and many Chinese firms have already taken progressive steps in this direction. Amid all these advancements, the recent report have raised concern over the future of mobiles in the country. According to research firm CyberMedia Research, the mobile phone sales in India has shrinked consecutively for the second time in Q1 2015.
The statistics released by the firm clearly speaks of the dropped sales in Q1 2015 (January – March) and in the last quarter of 2014 (October – December). In the first quarter of this year, the mobile phone sales in total dropped 14.5% that is, from 62 million to 53 million. Out of this, feature phones sale rolled down to 34 million, while that of smartphones remained 20 million.
The Lead Analyst at CyberMedia Faisal Kawoosa spoke on the same –
With major announcements of new handsets and with the entry of some new brands happening in a big way in Q4 2014, there wasn’t really something very exciting in the market for customers that could push up sales in Q1 2015. At the same time, a change in duty structure and the longer continuation of Chinese new year festivities which generally conclude by mid-February each year, affected the supply chain and inventories
India is one of the tremendously booming electronic markets in the world. In 2014, the nation emerged as the fastest growing smartphone market in Asia-Pacific, and was speculated to overtake the US as the second-largest smartphone market across the globe after China.
The slow down of mobile sales in India reportedly depends on a number of factors like unexciting phones, increased tax, mounting competition and the extended Chinese new year festivities. The smartphone brands need to think of innovative device structures that stand out of the pack; immediately enticing the customers to buy one. LG’s G Flex series is one such example of innovation and style, which makes it ahead of the league. The increased tax is another area which is pulling smartphone vendors to offer devices at cheaper rates. Oppo, Xiaomi, and a few more manufacturers have found a solution to this, but there are many more who are yet to find an answer.
