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Micromax overtakes Apple as tablet market grows 9%

Apple was relegated to the third position with a 9% share.

The Indian tablet market grew 9% quarter-on-quarter during the second quarter of the calendar year, international technology research firm IDC said on Monday. The first quarter had seen sales decline 33% from the previous quarter. Tablet shipments stood at 0.86 million units in Q22014 against 0.78 million units in the first quarter of the calendar.

The second quarter saw Micromax surpass Apple as the second-largest player in a market dominated by small players, which accounted for 45% of total sales. Samsung continued to dominate with a 19% share while Micromax accounted for 14% tablet shipments. The majority of Samsung’s volumes were driven by sub-$200 voice calling tablets, the report said.

Apple was relegated to the third position with a 9% share, with more than 60% of overall iPad volumes being supported by the smaller iPad mini. IDC also cautioned big players in its report, saying despite the inconsistencies, smaller importers continued to remain successful in the highly price sensitive Indian market.

IDC attributed the growth in tablet sales to improving business sentiment after the elections.

Kiran Kumar, research manager, client devices for IDC India, said, ?Improved discretionary spends by end-users and festive buying are expected to drive growth in the tablet market in the coming quarters. IDC anticipates this to be well supported by the optimism witnessed around enterprise IT spending in the recent past.?

During the first quarter, shipments were hit by the Bureau of Indian Standards? (BIS) compliance norms hurting unbranded tablet manufacturers. “The traditional PC OEMs have started making big inroads into the tablet market and most of this success is led by leveraging their vast expanded reach through multiple distribution points,? says Karan Thakkar, senior market analyst, IDC India.

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First published on: 02-09-2014 at 00:47 IST
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