Indian smartphone makers disappear from IDC's Top 5

The shipments of smartphones in India stood at 109.1 million units in calendar year 2016, a marginal annual growth of 5.2 per cent, with Chinese vendors stealing the show and none of the homegrown companies making it to top five list.

During the fourth quarter of the year, smartphone shipments clocked 25.8 million units, registering similar volumes of CY Q42015 but declined sharply by 20.3 per cent over the previous quarter. This is mainly due to a seasonal decline after an all-time high festival quarter and demonetisation in the month of November, which led to relatively lower consumer sales in November and December, according to International Data Corporation's Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.

''This is relatively lower than expected smartphone shipments for India owing to sluggish first half and demonetisation at the end of year'' says Karthik J, senior market analyst, client devices, IDC. ''Feature phone to smartphone migration has slowed down as prices of smartphones are still quite high for a feature phone user. Also, ease of use, long battery life and durability of feature phones continue to be relevant for large numbers of users of this category,'' adds Karthik.

In the smartphone market, the share of China-based vendors touched a whopping 46 per cent in CY Q42016, as their shipments doubled over the same period last year, while the share of homegrown vendors further slipped to 19 per cent.

Samsung continued to lead the smartphone market by a large margin with 25.1 per cent share despite a 13.1 per cent sequential decline in clender year Q42016. However, Samsung's annual shipments grew 3.2 per cent in 2016 driven majorly by the J-series. The J2 continues to be a key contributor for Samsung, accounting for almost half of vendor's total shipments in CY Q42016.

Xiaomi climbed up to second place with 10.7 per cent share in CY Q42016 against 3.3 per cent share in the same period last year. Year-on-year shipments grew threefold while sequential growth was 15.3 per cent in the fourth quarter. Xiaomi also expanded its retail presence with the launch of an exclusive model for offline channels in CY Q42016.

Lenovo (including Motorola) slipped to the third place as shipments declined 17.4 per cent sequentially in CY Q42016 and 14.5 per cent over CY Q42015. Motorola's E3 Power and Lenovo's K5 series accounted for almost half Lenovo's shipments in CY Q42016.

OPPO made it to the top five list in CY Q42016 with 8.6 per cent share. OPPO has been growing at a steady rate all through 2016 with the year ending at a healthy 29.9 per cent sequential growth in CY Q42016. With a strong retail presence and aggressive marketing, OPPO has established itself as a key player in the Indian smartphone market. Also, the vendor's recent inroads into online channels is likely to give an incremental push for the vendor.

vivo is yet another China-based vendor making its debut in the top 5. vivo dethroned Reliance Jio from fifth place by clocking in a healthy 50.8 per cent sequential growth in CY Q42016 with 7.6 per cent vendor share. Similar to OPPO, vivo's strength lies in its offline presence, and its extensive visibility has helped the vendor to grow more than 4 times in 2016 over the previous year.

''This is first time when none of the homegrown vendors were able to make their position in top five,'' says Jaipal Singh, Market Analyst, Client Devices, IDC India. ''The decision of sticking with a 3G-heavy portfolio and prioritising the price game over product experience is working against the dominance of homegrown vendors,'' adds Singh