Just yesterday it was reported that Samsung lost out its lead in the Chinese smartphone market to Xiaomi in Q2. Xiaomi has made quite a name for itself in the four years that it has been around. It makes some of the fastest selling devices in the country and is now in the lead, unseating a company like Samsung is no small achievement. Unfortunately for Samsung it has suffered similar misfortune in India, where local manufacturer Micromax took the lead in Q2.
A report from Counterpoint Research released this week shows that in the second quarter Micromax took a 16.6 percent share of the market. Samsung came in second place with 14.4 percent. In third is Nokia which owns 10.9 percent of the market.
This happens to be the first time that Micromax has taken the lead from Samsung, its a five year old company that focuses primarily on affordable devices that cater to low-end and mid-range market segment. Micromax was able to steal the lead away from Samsung thanks to its strong feature phone sales. Samsung stayed ahead on smartphones with 25.3 percent but Micromax breathes down its neck there as well with 19.1 percent of all smartphone shipments in India.
China and India are two lucrative emerging markets that manufacturers are increasingly focusing on. Both countries also have a handful of local manufacturers who want a piece of the pie as well, making things difficult for global juggernauts like Samsung.
Samsung conceded in a recent earnings call that it expects the rest of 2014 to be a challenge for its mobile business primarily because of pressure and increased competition in the market.
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