91mobiles has released the latest report about the mobile phone landscape in India in H1 of 2015. As always, the report throws up some interesting scenarios. The report shows that India is seeing a major boom in the number of phone launches. The launches this year are expected to nearly double up from the previous year. In 2014, about 1000 new mobile phones were launched in India. This year, the number of new launches is expected to cross 1700.
The noteworthy points in these launches are that big brands like Samsung, LG etc. are now giving more attention to lower price range devices. Earlier, their prime focus remained on higher-end and premium devices. But now, they are taking care to make available ample variety even in lower price brackets. However, when it comes to lower price bracket devices, particularly phones below 10,000 rupees, Indian brands like Intex, Micromax etc are winning the race. The brands like Samsung, LG, HTC are still reigning over the premium segment. But the more budget conscious consumers are turning towards the cheaper options made available by Indian brands. And the Indian brands are making sure that the consumers get plenty of options. And that is why, Indian brands like Intex, Micromax launched more phones in 2015 H1 than brands like Samsung.
Thanks to the large variety of options available in the market now, almost all brands have registered a decline in page views on 91mobiles, as compared to 2014. All except HTC. HTC is the only major brand whose popularity seems to be increasing. That might be thanks to the huge popularity of its devices like HTC Desire 620G and HTC Desire 826.
In the premium segment, the popularity report is more predictable and is led by IPhone, Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and Samsung Galaxy S6, Google Nexus S6 and LG G4. Samsung is also winning in 20K-30K segment with its Galaxy A7, followed by Gionee Elife S7, GTC Desire 826, Sony Xperia Z Ultra and Samsung Galaxy S5.
The 10,000 - 20,000 price segment of mobile devices is very interesting. ASUS ZenFone 2 is the king of popularity as indicated by most number of page views. Other top most popular phones in this segment include HTC Desire 620G, Xiaomi MI 4, Lenovo P70 and HTC Desire 820.
Two devices of Samsung (Samsung Galaxy Core Prime and Samsung Galaxy Core 2) also feature in the entry level segment. YU Yureka generated most searches and page views. Other popular devices in this segment are Lenovo K3 Note and Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G.
It is interesting to note that devices with curved display like Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge and LG G Flex 2 haven't managed to raise as much excitement in consumers as might have been expected.
The number of phones being sold exclusively online has seen a marked increase. Almsot 33% of mobiles launched this year are being sold exclusively online.
Fore more details and insights, check out infographics below or the Slideshow of the report
