iBall is the new tablet market leader in India, according to IDC. Samsung is number two, Datawind in third position, Micromax the fourth largest tablet vendor, while Apple is out of top five.
iBall has a tablet market share of 14.9 percent against Samsung with 13.8 percent, Datawind with 13.5 percent, Micromax with 12 percent and Xiaomi with 9.5 percent.
iBall benefited from its strong presence in entry level tablets i.e. sub $100 and expansion of retail and geographical reach, said IDC in a statement.
Samsung, the number one smartphone brand in India, dropped to second spot in the local tablet market in Q2 2015 despite posting a healthy double digit growth over previous quarter. Inventory issues in some of their top selling models restricted the overall performance for this brand in Q2, said the telecom analysis report on Wednesday.
In Q2 2015, India tablet market rose 22 percent to 1.04 million unit — mainly due to BIS certifications deadline on power adapters.
Demand in the commercial segment increased 12.4 percent in Q2 2015 against Q1 2015, while the volumes doubled against the same period a year ago.
“However, for tablet market to grow further, consumer demand is vital which is losing sheen as tablet as a category is suffering to justify its use case existence between larger smartphones and notebook PCs,” said Karthik J, senior market analyst of IDC India.
Due to BIS regulation, IDC is expecting lesser tablet shipments in Q3 2015. On a yearly basis, IDC expects the Indian tablet space to post a higher single digit growth in 2015. Consumer market outlook appears to be stagnant but commercial segment is anticipated to witness growth especially through government and education projects.
Microsoft Windows-based tablets’ shipments more than doubled over previous quarter, standing currently at 5 percent OS share. New Windows-based products launched in Q2 at affordable price points received good response led primarily by brands like iBall, Micromax and Lenovo.
Nearly 75 percent of tablets sold in India are connected tablets (2G/3G/4G enabled) and 54 percent are 3G enabled owing to limited Wi-Fi hotspots in the country.
“With 4G network now being available nationwide through Airtel and more operators to join league soon, it presents a positive picture for 4G connected tablets in India,” said Kiran Kumar, research manager of IDC India.
Baburajan K
editor@telecomlead.com
