1 out of 3 smartphones shipped in India in Q3 2015 are 4G enabled: IDC

As we still wait for wider 4G presence in India, a new IDC report says that the number of 4G-enabled devices shipped to the country have shown significant growth. IDC’s Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker states that 28.3 million smartphones were shipped to India in the third quarter of 2015, which is up 21.4 percent from 23.3 million units for the same period last year. The popular models available in the market support 4G and feature a large screen, priced at less than $200, adds the report. Samsung is the biggest 4G player in India with its popular sub $150 LTE models such as Galaxy Grand Prime and Galaxy J2, states the report. “e-tailers such as Flipkart, Snapdeal and Amazon continue to drive shipments of the Chinese vendors, who have been aggressively trying to capture the 4G smartphone market in India,” said Karthik J, Senior Market Analyst, Client devices.  Apart from e-tailers, growth is also driven by phones with larger displays at low cost. “Almost one out of every two smartphones sold, had 5-inch plus displays,” says Jaipal Singh, Market Analyst, Client Devices. The IDC report also highlights the shift in consumer preference from mostly voice calling to an advanced multimedia experience. The report also reveals some vendor highlights such as Samsung continues to lead the Indian smartphone market with 13.1 percent sequential growth (quarter-on-quarter) in Q3 2015 over Q2 2015. Micromax retains the second position and its Yu range evices are contributors to Micromax’s 4G portfolio. It is followed by Intex that saw a sharp rise in shipments in sub $50 segment. The fourth and fifth place are taken by Lenovo and Lava, respectively. Lenovo that also owns Motorola has moved up to fourth position with 58.6 percent  sequential growth (quarter-on-quarter). Lenovo has managed to capture 9.5 percent of the smartphone market mainly because of the Lenovo K3 note, A6000 plus and Moto G 3rd Gen. Lava moved down by a position and is placed fifth with 24.9 percent sequentially (quarter-on-quarter).