BANGALORE: Nearly 10 million smartphones were shipped within India during the first three months of 2013, a 167% increase from last year, aided by new launches from Samsung Electronics and cheaper devices flooding the market, according to latest data from market research firm Cyber Media Research.

South Korea based Samsung Electronics, which has most of its phones based on Google's Android software, sold some 4 million smartphones during this period and retained market leadership with 40% market share.

Homegrown companies Micromax and Karbonn, which operate within the Rs 7000 to Rs 16,000 price point, saw its smartphone shipments grow 19% and 8% respectively from a year ago.

Cyber Media said the triple-digit growth rate is a sign that increasing number of mobile phone users are migrating from feature phones to smartphones that can browse internet and download content.

"A significant proportion of these (users) were already using the devices of local vendors and preferred to continue with a smartphone of the same brand. Thus, local vendors have been able to introduce their new smartphone offerings to this 'captive' customer base," Tarun Pathak, a Cyber Media analyst said.

With smartphones available in various price ranges, India's mobile phone market has become increasingly competitive over the past few months. Smartphones makeup for12-13% of overall phone market, up from 5% a couple of years ago.

Pathak said he expects local vendors to continue their dominance over the coming months aided by promotional offers and financing plans.

"It is expected to sustain, till such time as one of the Tier I international players like Nokia, BlackBerry, HTC or Sony Mobiles launch a sustained marketing and promotion drive to regain share or introduce a new, potentially disruptive mobile device technology," he added.

The overall mobile phone market in India, of which feature phones are a part, grew 11% compared to the same period last year. A total of 74 million mobile handsets were sold within India during this period.

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com