Poor Performance
Samsung Electronics is exhibiting poor performance in India and China, although the two markets emerged as hot places in the global smartphone market.
According to market research firm Counterpoint Technology Market Research on May 7, Samsung's market share in India and China during the first quarter of this year fell by 5.5 percent and 9.9 percent each, compared to the same period last year.
The tech giant's share in India decreased to 27.8 percent in Q1 2015 from 33.3 percent in Q1 2014. Although Samsung still maintains the top position, Indian handset makers are rapidly increasing their share in the local market, as shown by a 6.5 percent year-on-year increase in their share from 2.9 percent to 9.4 percent.
The situation in China is more severe. Samsung nabbed the top spot with an 18.5 percent share in Q1 2014, but its share only amounted to 8.6 percent in Q1 2015. Since the number fell by nearly 10 percent, Samsung was displaced by Xiaomi and Huawei, thereby ranking 4th. On the other hand, the new iPhone 6 and 6+ put Apple back on top in China. Apple's share rose to 15.7 percent in Q1 2015 from 8.8 percent a year ago. During the same period, Xiaomi's share increased from 10.5 percent to 13.1 percent, and Huawei from 8 percent to 10.5 percent.
India emerged as the world's third-largest smartphone market after the U.S. and China. Total smartphone shipments are expected to increase to reach more than 150 million units in 2018.
As the second-largest smartphone market, China has started to reach its saturation point, but it still has tremendous growth potential. The nation's smartphone penetration rates have yet to surpass 40 percent.