Big 3 mobile phone markets are outside China

India, Indonesia and Bangladesh have emerged as the top three mobile phone markets.

These three markets combined offers an opportunity for mobile phone industry players looking to grow beyond the saturating China mobile phone market, according to Market Monitor Q4 2014 Report by research firm Counterpoint Research.

The total mobile phone shipments for India, Indonesia and Bangladesh stood at 89 million as smartphone demand skyrocketed and the total smartphone shipments contributed to more than a third of all mobile phones shipped during the quarter.

''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 Calendar year 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," saysTina Lu senior 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 per cent, 52 per cent and 50 per cent 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.

India
The Indian mobile phone market grew by 6 per cent year-on-year, but declined sequentially on account of a mixed seasonality during the quarter. The smartphone shipments stood close to 22 million during the fourth quarter of 2014, reaching to a record level crossing 80 million units for the first time and contributing close to 32 per cent of the overall shipments in the calendar 2014.

India is the third-largest smartphone market in the world, 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 per cent and 27.4 per cent, respectively.

Micromax maintained the second position in both overall and smartphone market closely following Samsung. Micromax smartphone shipments grew 75 per cent Y-o-Y but declined sequentially.

Intex entered the top five smartphone vendor rankings for the first time in a quarter capturing slightly under 7 per cent 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 per cent of the Indian smartphone market during the quarter.

Xiaomi smartphone shipments grew almost 250 per cent 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 1 million and 3 million 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.

Indonesia
The Indonesian handset and smartphone market grew by 12 per cent and 100 per cent, respectively Y-o-Y as rise in smartphone shipments, declining actual selling price of smartphones and growing smartphone portfolio of local brands contributed to the growth.

The smartphone shipments stood at slightly under 10 million units during the quarter contributing close to 50 per cent of the overall shipments during the quarter. Samsung leads the overall and smartphone market during the quarter with a market share of 19 per cent  and 26.4 cent market share, respectively.

Bangladesh
The Bangladesh handset and smartphone market grew by 2 per cent  and 83 per cent Y-o-Y respectively but declined sequentially. The smartphone shipments crossed more than a million units during the quarter contributing over 16 per cent 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 per cent and 40 per cent respectively. It enjoys the maximum brand share on account of its strong distribution and brand presence along with the customised mobile phone offerings relevant to local needs and preferences.