Micromax tablets beat out Apple, Samsung in India

New data has shown that Micromax is the market leader of India’s tablet market which has witnessed a surge in sales mainly due to the entry of new tablet vendors as well as the introduction of offerings from existing vendors at low to medium price points. Micromax was followed by Samsung and Apple respectively. [caption id=“attachment_483418” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The Micromax Funbook Infinity[/caption] India’s overall tablet market recorded sales of 0.55 million units in 2Q 2012 (Quarter ended June 30, 2012). Micromax leads with an 18.4 percent share, followed by Samsung at second position with 13.3 percent and Apple at third position with 12.3 percent, in terms of sales (unit shipments) during the second quarter of 2012. A statement on behalf of CyberMedia said although India’s tablets market was still at a nascent stage,  it had become competitive due to the entry of new vendors with entry level offerings. The data showed that as of the second quarter of 2012, close to 90 vendors launched new tablets into the market, and the average price of a tablet had dropped to a little above Rs 13,000 from Rs 26,000 in 1Q 2012, as a majority of vendors in early 2012 launched their products in the Rs 5,000-10,000 price range. Faisal Kawoosa, Lead Analyst, CMR Telecoms Practice said, “During 2Q 2012, 47.4 percent of tablet sales were from new entrants in the market with a strong focus on addressing application areas in the Education and Entertainment segments. This trend demonstrates clearly that vendors are positioning their devices at India’s youth.” Some of the key trends in terms of specifications of media tablets in India noted in 2Q 2012 are in the table below. India Quarterly Media Tablets Market Review for 2Q 2012*: Trending

*Source: CyberMedia Research (CMR) India Quarterly Media Tablets Market Review, 2Q 2012, September 2012. “As Android devices become increasingly popular with users across the world, competition is increasing in the India Tablets market with more and more vendors launching devices based on the Android OS. The share of devices based on other operating systems like Windows, iOS and QNX are expected to rise in future in view of the recent announcement of the Microsoft Windows Surface Tablet, the global launch of the Apple iPad 3 and reduction in BlackBerry Playbook prices,” Kawoosa added. “Going forward we see vendors launching segments specific segments such as Healthcare, Retail and e-Governance. In terms of tablet use cases, the popular categories are Internet browsing, Email, Entertainment, Gaming, Social Networking, Information (Cricket, Flights etc). Clearly, the Indian user is also taking to the tablet as a content consumption device,” added Tarun Pathak, analyst, CMR Telecoms Practice.