Smartphones in India and China: a tale of growth versus stagnation in 2014

Smartphone uptake is booming in India. That’s a relief to phone makers, because China’s more mature market has now reached the stage where smartphone numbers are stagnating.

The latest figures from IDC show that smartphone shipments in India grew 82 percent in the past 12-month period, while China saw growth of just 10.8 percent. Admittedly, India is still a small-ish market in relative terms, with an estimated 23.3 million smartphones shipped to retailers in Q3 2014, versus 105 million in China.

This is the scene for global smartphone shipments in the past 18 months, with China and India marked out:

If we zoom in on India, we get a clearer picture of its robust growth:

Basic, non-smart phones still account for the majority of mobile sales in India, but that means a seismic shift is now underway to Android, iOS, and Windows Phone devices. Cheaper Android phones are helping push this forward in the very price-sensitive market. The ratio of feature phones to smartphones shipped in India is now 68:32, which has changed a lot from 78:22 at the end of last year, and 90:10 at the end of 2012.

Xiaomi up to 2nd

IDC’s figures for Q3 2014 show that Samsung still leads the pack in the region it calls “Asia-Pacific minus Japan.” Samsung has 16 percent share of the zone, with Xiaomi second (10.4 percent), ahead of Lenovo in third (9.1 percent).

The presence of four Chinese smartphone brands in the top five (Huawei and Oppo are fourth and fifth) indicates the huge threat they all pose to Samsung across Asia, especially as they’re creating more cost-effective phones than the Korean tech giant. Most of these Chinese brands are positioning the US$300 segment as their top-of-the-range niche, undercutting established brands like Samsung, Apple, and HTC by half.

In India, homegrown brands like Micromax and Karbonn are also attacking Samsung with lower-cost smartphones. “Micromax has extended its leadership in India and claimed 20 percent share in the India smartphone market in Q3 2014,” states IDC.

In China, it’s not yet clear if Xiaomi has managed to surpass Samsung for the top spot.

See: These numbers from Asia’s half-trillion dollar ecommerce market will blow your mind – INFOGRAPHIC