Samsung, despite still being number one in the smartphone market, is really struggling. The company lost a significant share in the two most populous countries in the world, namely China and India, where it was overtaken by the domestic smartphone manufacturers Xiaomi and Micromax during the second quarter of 2014. They have gained considerable popularity in the country because they sell phones with powerful hardware at a low price that is adapted to the local market. Samsung has understandably responded and apparently plans to change its strategy by selling phones in the mentioned countries that will compete with local manufacturers on price while offering powerful hardware.
In China, according to Canalys, the situation is such that Xiaomi is in first place with a 14% market share. Samsung's share, on the other hand, dropped significantly compared to last year. Year-on-year, Samsung's share of the Chinese market fell from 18,6% to only 12%. Samsung thus won second place in the table, but with the fact that third place is neck and neck and if the situation does not change, then it will overtake it. The third place was taken by Lenovo, which also has a share of around 12%. In fact, it sold 13,03 million phones last quarter, while Samsung sold 13,23 million devices.
In India, on the other hand, the local manufacturer Micromax enjoys the lead, which during the second quarter of 2014 gained a market share of 16,6% in the country, while it was 14,4% for Samsung. Surprisingly, in the third place of the table is Nokia by Microsoft, which has a share of 10,9% in the Indian market. However, the company also has a problem in terms of sales of classic phones, where it obtained a share of only 8,5%. The Indian manufacturer Micromax, on the other hand, gained a share of 15,2% in this market.
*Source: Counterpoint Research; Canalys
