India, Indonesia and Bangladesh Mobile phone shipments approaching 100 Million units per quarter run rate as smartphone demand continue to climb in Asia beyond China.

According to our latest research from Market Monitor program for Q4 2014 (Oct-Dec), India, Indonesia and Bangladesh total mobile phone shipments stood at 89 Mn as smartphone demand skyrocketed and the total smartphone shipments contributed to more than a third of all mobile phones shipped during the quarter. These three markets combined offers an opportunity for mobile phone industry players looking to grow beyond the saturating China mobile phone market.

“Smartphone growth in these regions touches almost all the price segments with regional brands being prominent in the entry level smartphone segment. Apart from this we have seen Chinese vendors entering these geographies for the first time in CY 2014 and enjoyed a significant success rate. However it will be important to keep an eye on  Online only players on how they capture the smartphone growth in rural areas in these regions” says Tina Lu Sr. Consultant at Counterpoint research

“While the vendors looking to expand their smartphone strategy beyond China, it is interesting to note that domestic brands occupy strong position in these three markets by capturing a share of 62%, 52% and 50% in Bangladesh, India and Indonesia respectively. In such a scenario a new vendor entering these geographies must play on the strength of regional brands which primarily is their distribution reach and price competitiveness” says Tarun Pathak Sr. Analyst at Counterpoint research

Following are the key findings of the competitive environment in these markets:

India Handset Market 4Q 2014

• India mobile phone market grew by 6% Y-o-Y but declined sequentially on account of a mixed seasonality during the quarter.
• Smartphone shipments stood close to 22 Million during Q4 2014 reaching to a record level crossing 80 Million units for the first time and contributing close to 32% of the overall shipments in CY 2014.
• India is the third largest smartphone market in the world and shipping almost twice as many smartphones shipped in Japan in 2014.
• Samsung led the overall mobile phone and smartphone market during the quarter with a market share of 16.1% and 27.4% respectively.
• Micromax maintained the second position in both overall and smartphone market closely following Samsung. Micromax smartphone shipments grew 75% Y-o-Y but declined sequentially.
• Intex entered the top 5 smartphone vendor rankings for the first time in a quarter capturing slightly under 7% of the market share during the quarter. Intex smartphones enjoyed a strong demand in sub-$100 smartphone segment especially for its Aqua 3G and Y Pro models.
• Lenovo raced to number fifth position primarily due to acquisition of Motorola capturing almost 5% of the Indian smartphone market during the quarter
• Xiaomi smartphone shipments grew almost 250% Q-o-Q but the vendor failed to make it to the Top five smartphone vendors during the quarter
• For the full year, the online only brands, Xiaomi and Motorola crossed 1Mn and 3Mn mark (cumulative shipments) respectively since launch signifying growing trend of consumers purchasing phones online.
• Meanwhile, Apple’s iPhone shipment touched half a million units for the first time in a quarter with strong demand for iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
• The competition for the third - fifth spots in India smartphone market will be a close race between the fast growing smartphone brands such as Intex, Lava, Lenovo (Including Motorola), Karbonn, Xiaomi,Sony and others.

Exhibit 1: India Mobile Phone and Smartphone Shipments

Source: Counterpoint Research Market Monitor Q4 2014 Report

Indonesia Handset Market 4Q 2014:

• Indonesia Handset and smartphone market grew by 12% and 100% respectively Y-o-Y as rise in smartphone shipments, declining ASP of smartphones and growing smartphone portfolio of local brands contributed to the growth.
• Smartphone shipments stood at slightly under ten million units during the quarter contributing close to 50% of the overall shipments during the quarter.
• Samsung leads the overall and Smartphone market during the quarter with a market share of 19% and 26.4% market share respectively.
• Evercoss continues to be among the Top 3 brands both in the Overall and smartphone market .However its overall and smartphone shipments declined sequentially.
• Smartfren, another local brand (operator), captured second spot in Smartphone segment space primarily due to its leaner product portfolio and increase in shipments for sub-$75 smartphones like Andromax C3,C2 and G2.
• Oppo smartphone shipments continue to rise with vendor registering a sequential growth of 60% on account of its aggressive marketing campaign in the country
• Xiaomi which entered the market in Sept 2014 crossed 0.1 Milion units in during the quarter. Apart from online only flash sales it also started selling smartphones through the offline route as well.
• Domestic manufacturing of mobile phones in Indonesia is on the rise with new policies from the government making the cost of importing handsets into the country much costlier than earlier

Exhibit 2: Indonesia Mobile Phone and Smartphone Shipments

Source: Counterpoint Research Market Monitor Q4 2014 Report

Bangladesh Handset Market 4Q 2014:

• Bangladesh Handset and Smartphone Market grew by 2% and 83% Y-o-Y respectively but declined sequentially.
• Smartphone shipments crossed more than a million units during the quarter contributing over 16% of the overall mobile phone shipments, signaling that vendors have ample opportunity to target the first time smartphone users in the nation.
• Symphony mobile leads by a distance in both Overall and smartphone mobile phone segment with a market share of 46.3% and 40% respectively. It enjoys the maximum brand share on account of its strong distribution and brand presence along with the customized mobile phone offerings relevant to local needs and preferences.
• Google’s Android one debuted in Bangladesh during the end of quarter with Symphony partnering with Banglalink to launch Symphony Roar A50.
• However brands like Walton and Samsung looking to target the growing smartphone segment by aligning their mobile handset portfolio entirely towards smartphones.

Exhibit 3: Bangladesh Mobile Phone and Smartphone Shipments

Source: Counterpoint Research Market Monitor Q4 2014 Report

The comprehensive and in-depth Q4 2014 Market Monitor is available for subscribing clients. Please feel free to reach out to us at [email protected] for further questions regarding our in-depth latest research, insights or press enquiries.

The Market Monitor research is based on sell-in (shipments) estimates based on vendor’s IR results, vendor polling triangulated with sell-through (sales), supply chain checks and secondary research.