Smartphone adoption in India is going to be at an all time high. According to a study by consulting firm Zinnov India, smartphones are outpacing the growth of feature phones and are expected to show a massive 36 per cent compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) over the next five years making it to the 651 million mark by 2019. The growth is propelled by growing competition resulting in price reductions; ease of access to content and language localization, along with the government’s incentives through “Make in India” and growth of internet-enabled services on smartphones.
In the year 2014, approximately 81 million smartphones were shipped out of India making it a 51 per cent quarter-on-quarter growth. The study revealed that about 29 per cent of urban population with a base of 409 million users have adopted smart phone. Smartphone users in mini metros and tier-1 and 2 cities show an evolved usage of smartphone, and in fact match their large metro counterparts’ in the usage of online apps and browsing.
Putting light on the vendor scenario, the study said that home grown vendors, though commanding a major share, are facing stiff competition from Chinese vendors. Chinese brands are gaining prominence, with Xiaomi recently surpassing all other brands in sale of 4G LTE smartphones and Micromax is also threatening the dominance of Samsung in the domain.
“With consumers spoilt for choice, domestic smartphone vendors will have to increasingly focus on streamlining operational processes and investing in R&D for differentiation”, said Arvind Rawat, engagement manager-market expansion advisory, Zinnov.
The consulting firm also noticed that smartphones are changing the way consumers shop. Right from user research to product anytime & anywhere, smartphones are an emerging point of purchase.
And to address the demand from tier 2 and 3 cities and changing consumer-shopping pattern, e-commerce companies are increasing their focus on mobile commerce.
