Moreover, ZTE and Huawei, with their 4G/LTE range will try to conquer Indian mobile market. ZTE is already trying to become the third largest mobile vendor in the world.
Besides, Samsung will have challenges from homegrown mobile vendors such as Micromax, Spice and Videocon.
If Reliance Industries going to buy 4G handsets from Samsung and the Mukesh Ambani’s 4G plans take off in early 2013, it will positively impact the Korean devices major’s smartphone targets.
According to Yahoo, Apple devices such as iPhone 5, iPad 3, iPad mini, iPhone 4 and iPod Touch have dominated as the top 10 searched gadgets on Yahoo! in 2012. Samsung Galaxy Tab, Samsung Galaxy S III and Samsung Galaxy Note are the devices from Samsung, the leading smartphone major, among the top searched gadgets on Yahoo! in 2012.
Kindle Fire and Nook are the remaining devices in the Top10 list of most searched gadgets in Yahoo!. BlackBerry 10 and Nokia Lumia did not find place in the list. These trends may continue next year.
Ericsson’s Mobility Report says approximately 40 percent of all mobile phones sold worldwide in the third quarter of 2012 were smartphones, compared to around 30 percent for the full year in 2011.
Samsung, which is the market leader in smartphone segment, now has close to 48 per cent market share by value.
Samsung is planning to open 20 brand shops by next year. It currently has three such stores.
According to CMR’s India Mobile Handsets Market Review, during 1H 2012 (January-June 2012), total India shipments of smartphones were 5.50 million units.
Top Smartphone Players in H1 2012
(in terms of percent of unit shipments)
| Player | Rank | Share ( percent of unit shipments of smartphones) |
| Samsung | #1 | 41.6 percent |
| Nokia | #2 | 19.2 percent |
| RIM | #3 | 12.1 percent |
Source: CMR’s India Mobile Handsets Market Review, 2Q 2012, September 2012 release
