The Indian data cards market achieved 151 percent growth in 2017 fueled by the growth in 4G subscriber base.
4G / LTE data cards made 99 percent contribution with 255 percent growth in 2017. Main 4G operators in the Indian telecom market are Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone.
Reliance Retail is the leader in the Indian data cards market in 2017 thanks to the success of Reliance Jio. Reliance Jio has more than 160 million 4G subscribers in India. JioFi devices captured 85 percent market share in 2017 as against 38 percent in 2016. JioFi has posted 5-fold growth in 2017.
Huawei is in the number two spot, with 7 percent market share. Huawei posted 29 percent decline in its data card business in 2017.
Data card shipments from other vendors, including iBall, Intex, and Micromax registered continuous decline. They gradually moved out of data cards market by the end of 2017 due to poor performance. Reliance Retail’s JioFi models captured the top five spots.
“Home Router market witnessed downfall post launch of JioFi devices. Capitalizing on the limited coverage of WiFi routers and their continuous requirement of power, MiFi devices with their inbuilt battery along with portability feature captured the space,” Shipra Sinha, lead analyst at CyberMedia Research, said.
