Reliance Jio leads in both feature phones and the overall handset market: Counterpoint

According to a new report by research firm counterpoint, Jiophone topped across all handset types in 2018, with a market share of 21 percent.

Tarun Pathak, Associate Director, Counterpoint said that "This is the first time the feature phone market grew faster than the smartphone market.

"Reliance Jio captured 38 percent of the feature phone segment in just over year with its compelling value proposition compared to normal 2G feature phones. Additionally, the Jio Monsoon Hungama offer focusing on upgrading 2G feature phone users, helped it to drive sales during the second half of 2018," Pathak added.

The firm also pointed out that Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi took a clear lead over Samsung.

Xiaomi also dominated CY2018 with a market share of 28 percent while Samsung grabbed 24 percent share in the same period.

Meanwhile India's overall mobile phone shipments grew 11 percent and smartphone shipments grew 10 percent with feature phones growing faster (11 percent) than smartphones during 2018 and in terms of revenue, the market grew even faster with a growth rate of 19 percent during the year with Samsung, Xiaomi, vivo, OPPO, and Apple being the market leaders by revenue.

Karn Chauhan, Research Analyst at Counterpoint Research said, "India is the second largest smartphone market in the world after China. It has just surpassed 430 million smartphone users. However, this accounts for just 45 percent of the potential total addressable market for smartphones; India is underpenetrated relative to many other markets. This was one the key reasons for its growth in 2018 where not only new users shifted towards smartphones but there was a healthy upgrade within price tiers, especially from entry-level smartphones to the mid-tier segment."

Furthermore, report added that Tecno was the fastest growing smartphone brand in 2018 growing by 221 percent as it expanded its offline reach.