Samsung loses pole position in India smartphone market to Micromax

Indian 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 Tuesday, 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.