New Delhi: Sales of feature phones, which drove mobile phone adoption in India, fell for the first time by 0.8 per cent to 51.8 million units in July-September 2013 as smartphones continue to capture consumer interest.
Mobile handset shipments grew 10.9 per cent to 62.9 million units during July-September 2013 aided by 152.3 per cent jump in smartphone sales, a report by CyberMedia Research (CMR) on Tuesday said.
On the other hand, the feature phone category witnessed a 0.8 per cent decline year-on-year.
Of the total sales in Q3 2013, 51.8 million units were feature phones, while 11.1 million were smartphones.
“We have been saying that the way forward is smartphones. July-September 2013 is the first quarter to actually report this trend in numbers.
This means vendors can expect to see large opportunities in the upgrades market where many feature phone users will upgrade to a smartphone,” CMR Telecoms Practice lead analyst Faisal Kawoosa said.
It may also so happen that new smartphone purchases register lower volumes vis-a-vis upgrades but this phenomenon may be a few quarters away, he added.
