Android Reign
Seen Unchallenged
In Near Term
India’s increasing affection for smartphones is no secret, as the rapid
uptake of smartphones clearly
shows. Moreover, much similar to
other emerging countries, Google’s
Android operating system is standing out as the winner in India as well,
thanks to its availability for devices in
the lower segments of the market.
According to market research firm
IDC, Google's mobile platform
Android had a 91 percent share in
the India smartphone market in the
second quarter of the current fiscal.
While Samsung Electronics is the
major Android player in the country,
domestic players such as Micromax,
Karbonn, Lava and Spice have also
played a pivotal role to make India as
an Android-first country.
Manasi Yadav, Senior Market
Analyst with IDC reckons that the
adoption of Android by local vendors
like Micromax and Karbonn has
helped the platform to dominate the
market.
The analyst believes that Chinese
players like Huawei and ZTE are also
pushing it [Android], which is helping the platform to raise its share
further.
“Android powers phones costing
`3,000 to `45,000 and that helps it
attract a lot of consumers,” she adds.
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23rd Sep 2013
There are a number of Chinese players that have entered the Indian
market with their smartphone offerings. Xiaomi, which is being termed
as the Apple of China is also considering to boost presence in India. With
the entry of Xiaomi, it is most likely
that consumers will be provided with
more choices at different price points,
which will further bolster the Android
ecosystem in the country.
Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform
is the country’s second most used
mobile OS in smartphones. The
market research firm reveals that
Windows Phone platform has a
market share of 5.4 percent.
Nokia has been the major source
behind the market share of Windows
Phone in the country and at the global
level as well. Nokia has been able to
raise its market share in the smartphone segment with the introduction
of the relatively more affordable
Lumia smartphones such as Lumia
520 and 620. Additionally, the company has also expanded its overall
Lumia range in the country, offering
more choices to the customers.
source
Nokia has recently got acquired by
Microsoft,
the
developer
of
Windows Phone platform. Moreover, ZTE and Huawei also have
negligible presence in the Windows
Phone segment.
Yadav suggests that the comparison of Windows Phone platform
with Android platform is not fair,
since the latter has been around for
a longer duration. "Windows Phone
is steadily growing in India. It is
doing well though the market share
is still very low,” she states.
Apple's iOS on the other hand holds
a minority share in the country’s
smartphone market. The company’s iPhones however got a big
push through its recently introduced buyback program. Additionally, the In