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Micromax Beats Samsung In Q4 2014 To Become India's Leading Smartphone Supplier: Canalys

Micromax Beats Samsung To Become India's Leading Smartphone Supplier: Report
Attendees stand at a counter while looking at the Micromax Informatics Ltd. Canvas Nitro smartphone displayed during a launch event in New Delhi, India, on Monday, Sept. 8, 2014. Micromax led the Indian mobile phone market for the first time in the second quarter, accounting for 16.6 percent of shipments, compared with Samsung Electronics Co.'s 14.4 percent, Counterpoint Research said in a statement on its website. Photographer: Kuni Takahashi/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Bloomberg via Getty Images
Attendees stand at a counter while looking at the Micromax Informatics Ltd. Canvas Nitro smartphone displayed during a launch event in New Delhi, India, on Monday, Sept. 8, 2014. Micromax led the Indian mobile phone market for the first time in the second quarter, accounting for 16.6 percent of shipments, compared with Samsung Electronics Co.'s 14.4 percent, Counterpoint Research said in a statement on its website. Photographer: Kuni Takahashi/Bloomberg via Getty Images

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 Feb. 3, 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.

Micromax's performance was partly due to its "continuing appeal to mobile phone users upgrading to smartphones", Canalys said. It estimated nearly a quarter of smartphones sold in India in the fourth quarter were devices priced under $100, while 41 percent of devices sold were in the $100-$200 range.

Micromax and Samsung were followed by two other Indian budget smartphone brands, Karbonn and Lava, by number of handsets sold in fourth quarter, Canalys said.

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