mobile phone landscape - india h1 2014

Mobile Phone Landscape:

India H1 2014

Mobile phone launch and

search trends

The #1 gadget research website in India

Nitansh Rastogi, Correspondent

91mobiles is the leading gadget research website in India

This report provides insights pertaining to mobile phone launches in H1 2014, search trends seen on 91mobiles,

and an outlook for the rest of the year including rise of new trends.

2

About 91mobiles and this report

The 91mobiles catalogue contains

over 15,000 devices launched

since the website’s inception in

2010; includes practically every

mobile phone launched in India

over the last 3 years

Over 25 million people visited

91mobiles in 2014 H1 and

browsed over 100 million pages

to research mobile phones &

tablets

Mobile phone launch trends in 2014 H1

The first half of the year saw significant growth in the number of phone launches,

the growing role of Indian brands, and a clear focus on the budget segment by users

and vendors alike

User’s choices revealed

The most popular devices and brands based on user searches on 91mobiles.com

Looking ahead to the second half of 2014

A sneak peek at the brands and trends to look forward to, based on the signs we

saw in H1 2014

Methodology and disclaimers

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1

2

3

4

Report outline

The phone segment in India has become a raging battlefield between incumbents and new entrants >

THE

LAUNCHPAD

Total phone launches

5

The number of phone launches grew more than twice in the

first half of 2014

H1 2013

H1 2014

401

855

Total brands

56Indian brands

International brands

27

2.13x

Launches in the mid-range segment (15k-25k) increased to ~3x,

followed by the high-end segment (25k-35k) which grew 160%

6

10

13

55

228

549

9

5

17

142

228

0 100 200 300 400 500 600

Above Rs 35k

Rs 25k-35k

Rs 15k-25k

Rs 5k-15k

Below Rs 5k

H1 2013 H1 2014

Price-wise distribution of phone launches in H1 2013 vs H1 2014

140.7% growth

60.6% growth

223.5% growth

160% growth

11.1% growth

60%

40%

68%

32%

7

20

178

508

0

96

191

0 100 200 300 400 500 600

Rs 15k-25k

Rs 5k-15k

Below Rs 5k

H1 2013 H1 2014

166% growth

85.41% growth

New segment for Indian brands with majority of

launches by Micromax (6), Karbonn (3) and Lava (2)

Price-wise distribution of phone launches by Indian brands in H1 2013 vs H1 2014

Indian brands stayed married to the entry-level segment (below 5k), but

cast roving eyes upon the mid-range segment (15k to 25k)

In the ‘Rs 15,000 to 25,000’ category, there wasn’t any offering by Indian brands in H1 2013.

60%

40%

68%

32%

8

10

13

35

50

41

6

7

17

45

38

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Above Rs 35k

Rs 25k-35k

Rs 15k-25k

Rs 5k-15k

Below Rs 5k

H1 2013 H1 2014

66.7% growth

Price-wise distribution of phone launches by international brands in H1 2013 vs H1 2014

International brands shifted focus to Rs 15k+ segment,

which grew by ~100 percent

85.7% growth

105.9% growth

7.9% growth

10% growth

Percentage breakup of phones launched by Indian & international brands in H1 2013

and H1 2014

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

H1 2013 H1 2014

82.6%

9

Indian brands grew their share of total launches to above

80 percent in H1 2014

17.4%

71.8%

28.2%

Indian brands International brands

10

Top brands by number of launches in H1 2014

6462

4745

42

35

30 2927 26

Intex Karbonn Micromax Lava Forme Hi-Tech Maxx Celkon Spice iBall

Indian brands dominated when it came to the total number

of phones launched in H1 2014


11

Top brands by number of launches in H1 2014 in the budget segment

30

24

20

1413

109

87 7

Lava Micromax Intex Karbonn IBall Maxx Nokia Idea OptimaSmart Spice

Indian brands also ruled the ‘Rs 5,000 to Rs 15,000’

segment in terms of number of launches


12

The story takes a U-turn in the above Rs 15,000 segment,

with only Micromax able to find a spot

7

6 6 6

5 5 5

4 4

3

Samsung Micromax LG Gionee HTC Sony Oppo Lenovo Alcatel Huawei


Top brands by number of launches in H1 2014 above Rs 15,000

H1 2014 witnessed the debut and re-entry of quite a few

brands

Many other brands like Alcatel and Panasonic also started heavy promotions for their products this year

13

No of devices launched in H1 2014 by new entrants

3

7

2

4

0 2 4 6 8

Motorola

Oppo

HP

Philips

5k – 15k

15k – 25k

25k – 35k

Above 35k

Below 5k

Samsung focussed on the upper end of the market, with no launches

below 15k in H1 2014

14

8

6

4

1

1

0

0

2

2

3

0 2 4 6 8 10

Below 5k

5k-15k

15k-25k

25k-35k

Above 35k

H1 2014

H1 2013

Price-wise distribution of phone launches by Samsung in H1 2013 vs H1 2014

Nokia, on the other hand, increased its focus on the lower-end

segment, and launched only one device above 15k in H1 2014

15

7

2

1

1

1

8

9

1

0

0

0 2 4 6 8 10

Below 5k

5k-15k

15k-25k

25k-35k

Above 35k

H1 2014

H1 2013

Price-wise distribution of phone launches by Nokia in H1 2013 vs H1 2014

Post Microsoft acquisition, Nokia seems to be taking stock of the situation since it did introduce high-end devices

in USA, but not in the Indian market in the H1 2014

Sony continued to be selective about its launch segments, while its

focus increased on the mid-range segment (15k to 25k)

16

0

2

1

0

2

0

2

3

0

2

0 1 2 3 4

Below 5k

5k-15k

15k-25k

25k-35k

Above 35k

H1 2014

H1 2013

Price-wise distribution of phone launches by Sony in H1 2013 vs H1 2014

Launches by HTC were spread around, though it focussed more on the

budget (5k to 15k) and the mid-range segments (15k to 25k)

17

0

2

2

0

2

0

2

3

1

1

0 1 2 3 4

Below 5k

5k-15k

15k-25k

25k-35k

Above 35k

H1 2014

H1 2013

Price-wise distribution of phone launches by HTC in H1 2013 vs H1 2014

Micromax moving up the value chain; made its debut in the mid-range

segment (15k - 25k)

18

19

9

0

0

16

24

5

0

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Below 5k

5k-15k

15k-25k

25k-35k

H1 2014

H1 2013

Price-wise distribution of phone launches by Micromax in H1 2013 vs H1 2014

Based on over 100 million searches and

product views on 91mobiles.com in H1 2014 >

Who topped

the popularity

charts?

Rank BrandChange in rank

compared to H1 2013

1 Samsung No change

2 Nokia +1

3 Micromax -1

4 Sony +1

5 HTC +1

6 Motorola New entrant

7 Apple +1

8 BlackBerry No change

9 Gionee +3

10 Panasonic New entrant

The 10 most popular phone brands in H1 2014

Note: popularity of all devices from a brand in H1 2014, including prior launches

20

Karbonn -

Rank 3, H1 2013

XOLO –

Rank 7, H1 2013

BIG

GEST LO

SERS

Most popular brands across price segments: Motorola made a stunning

comeback, while Samsung and Sony feature consistently in the top

Top 5 popular brands in different price segments in H1 2014 (Normalised)

SONY

100

71

47

41

32

HTC

Micromax

BlackBerry

100

46

44

29

24

Micromax

Samsung

Motorola

Sony

5k – 15kBUDGET

SEGMENT15k – 25k

MID-RANGE

SEGMENT

Above 35k

SUPER-PREMIUM

SEGMENT25k – 35k

HIGH-END

SEGMENT

21

Sony

APPLE

100

79

56

13

10

Samsung

LG

Nokia

Apple

Sony

Samsung

Apple

Sony

HTC

100

57

54

49

14Nokia

Nokia Samsung

Value-for-money brands like Micromax & Motorola topped

the charts when it came to buying intent

13% 13% 13%

12%

11%

10% 10% 10%

9%

8%

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

Micromax Motorola Gionee LG Lenovo Samsung XOLO Karbonn Sony Nokia

*percentage of people who browsed devices of a brand, and subsequently visited an online store

Percentage of users with buying intent* for brands

Indian Brands International Brands

22Note: popularity of all devices from a brand in H1 2014, including prior launches

The 10 most popular smartphones launched in H1 2014

Rank Name OSPrice

Band

Launch

Month

1 Nokia XL Android Rs 5k-15k May 2014

2 Samsung Galaxy S5 Android > Rs 35k Apr 2014

3 Sony Xperia Z2 Android > Rs 35k May 2014

4 Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 Android Rs 15k-25k Jan 2014

5 Motorola Moto G Android Rs 5k-15k Feb 2014

6 Motorola Moto E Android Rs 5k-15k May 2014

7 Nokia Lumia 525 Windows Phone 8 Rs 5k-15k Jan 2014

8 Nokia Lumia 630 Windows Phone 8.1 Rs 5k-15k May 2014

9 Nokia X Android Rs 5k-15k Mar 2014

10 HTC Desire 816 Android Rs 15k-25k May 2014

Note: for the smartphones released in H1 2014

5k – 15k

15k – 25k

25k – 35k

Above 35k

Below 5k

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Most popular devices in the budget segment (5k to 15k):

Nokia & Motorola rule the roost

Nokia XL

Moto G Moto ENokia

Lumia 525

Nokia

Lumia 630

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

AndroidLaunched: May 2014

Windows Phone 8.1Launched: May 2014

AndroidLaunched: May 2014Android

Launched: Feb 2014Windows Phone 8

Launched: Jan 2014


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Most popular devices in the mid-range segment (15k to 25k):

Samsung enjoyed its ‘grand’ presence

Samsung

Galaxy Grand 2

#1

AndroidLaunched: Jan 2014

Samsung Galaxy

Grand Neo

Sony

Xperia M2

MotoX

HTC Desire

816

#5

#4#2

#3

AndroidLaunched: Feb 2014

AndroidLaunched: May 2014

AndroidLaunched: Apr 2014

AndroidLaunched: Mar 2014


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Most popular devices in the high-end segment (25k to 35k): a

mixed bag

Gionee Elife E7

Lenovo Vibe Z

Sony Xperia Z1

Compact

Oppo Find

7a

Oppo R1

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

AndroidLaunched: Jan 2014 Android

Launched: Apr 2014

AndroidLaunched: Mar 2014Android

Launched: Feb 2014

AndroidLaunched: Jun 2014


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Most popular devices in the super-premium category

(above 35k): Samsung is the ruler of the ‘galaxy’

Samsung

Galaxy S5

Sony Xperia Z2

HTC One (M8)

Oppo Find 7

Samsung Note 3 Neo

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

AndroidLaunched: Apr 2014 Android

Launched: Feb 2014

AndroidLaunched: May 2014Android

Launched: May 2014Android

Launched: Jun 2014


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What the rest of the yearhold for us, based on the trends seen in the first half >

TREND-SPOTTING

The dawn of the budget-performance category, thanks to

devices like the Moto E

Manufacturer Device(s) Price range

Motorola Moto E Rs 6,999

MicromaxUnite 2,

UniteRs 6,000 to Rs 7,000

Lava/ XOLOIris X1,

Q600sRs 7,000 to Rs 8,000

Micromax,

Karbonn,

Spice

Upcoming

Android One

devices

Below Rs 10,000

Last year, smartphones with 1GB RAM were only available above Rs 10,000

BUDGET

PERFORMANCE

RAM ≥ 1GB

Processor ≥ Dual-core

Price < Rs. 8,000

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Motorola kick-started the trend of exclusive online sales

Motorola

Alcatel

Celkon

Karbonn

|

|

|

|

One Touch

Idol X+

Moto E, Moto G,

Moto X

A35K

Titanium

Octane Plus

In partnership with

In partnership with

30

The wrist wars – the era of wearables begins in earnest

Samsung Gear

Price range: Rs 15k-25k Sony Smartband

Price: Rs. 7,000

Alcatel BoomBandComplimentary with the One

Touch Idol X Plus

GOQii Band

Price: Rs 7,000

Compared to 2013, many brands are heavily investing on the smartwatches. The trend will continue with the

advent of Android Wear as Samsung and LG have recently launched their offerings based on it.

31

Indian manufacturers jump on to the Windows Phone

bandwagon, hitherto used exclusively by Nokia and a few others

Rs 5,000 to 15,000Canvas Win W121, Canvas Win W092

Rs 10,000Win Q900

Rs 5,000 to 15,000 (expected)

Three devices (based on rumors)

Below Rs 10,000 (expected)One (based on rumours)

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The market disrupters

H1 2014

H2 2014

Moto GRedefined value

for money

Moto EKickstarted the budget

performance segment

Xiaomi Mi 3Flagship specs at

budget pricing

Firefox

smartphones(Intex Cloud FX,

Spice Fire One Mi –FX1)

A fully-capable

smartphone under

Rs 2,500

Xiaomi Redmi 1s and

Android One devices

Powerful smartphones for

the masses

33

Will the mid-range segment gobble up everything else?

ObiPrice range:

Rs 5,000 to

Rs 15,000

JollaPrice range:

Around

Rs 20,000

XiaomiPrice range:

Rs 5,000 to

Rs 20,000

ASUSPrice range:

Rs 5,000 to

Rs 20,000

OnePlusPrice range:

Around

Rs 20,000

Upcoming influx of new brands with affordable offerings

34

4G set to take off this year post Airtel rollout in major cities; many

brands launched devices compatible with Indian 4G

35

LG G2 (4G)LG F70

OPPO

FIND 7a

OPPO

FIND 7

HTC One

(M8)

Some ifs and buts >

METHODOLOGYAND DISCLAIMERS

This report considers both feature phones and smartphones.

Source of data is the 91mobiles database and user behavior on 91mobiles.com.

All devices made available for sale by online stores are considered as devices ‘launched’ in the

Indian market, for the purpose of this report

Different storage variants of the same device are considered as separate products for the purpose

of this report.

This report captures data points from the first half of 2014, and therefore, the most recent trends

and launches post June 2014 haven’t been covered

Popularity of devices with respect to searches and product views on 91mobiles is indicative, and

may differ from other platforms.

While we have tried to capture information on all mobile phone and tablet launches, there may be

a few we missed

Methodology and Disclaimers

37

Alcatel Lenovo

Apple LG

Blackberry Mercury

BLU Motorola

BQ Nokia

Burg Oppo

Digimac Panasonic

Fly Samsung

Gionee Sansui

Haier SICT

HP Sony

HPL ThL

HTC ZTE

Huawei

Adcom iBerry MTS Trio

Alpha ICEX Olive TVC

Arise Idea Onida Videocon

Atom Intex OptimaSmart Viva

Bloom i-smart Penta VOX

Byond Jivi Rage Wham

Celkon Josh Reliance Wynncom

Champion Karbonn RK Xelectron

Cheers Kenxinda Rocker Zears

Datawind K-Touch Salora Zen

Devante Lava Simmtronics Zync

Forme Lemon Sky

Gee Maxx Speed

Hi-Tech Micromax Spice

iBall M-Tech Swipe

Indian Brands International Brands48 27

List of phone brands

2756

38