Selfie trend has worked out for OEMs like Vivo, Gionee: Counterpoint

According to new report by market research firm Counterpoint, the selfie trend has worked out for OEMs like Vivo, Gionee, Oppo, Lenovo and Samsung.

The report revealed integration of high-quality (8 Megapixel and above) selfie-focused camera in smartphones is one of the fastest growing trends though merely a supply side pushes to drive the selfie trend. Adding that sales of devices focus on selfies trend grew annually by a factor of nine in Q1 2017. The segment was mainly driven by Samsung, OPPO, vivo, Lenovo, and Gionee.

It says that "VoLTE capability in some networks is helping to drive a new device category called 4G feature phones. These are providing a way for current feature phone users to take advantage of low/no cost voice calls over the 4G LTE networks."

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"Lava was the first to launch a 4G feature phone. Micromax, LYF, and other brands plan to launch 4G feature phone in the coming months," the report further added.

It also pointed that Indian brands are expanding to overseas markets for growth as they are losing their footing in the home market.

The report further pointed almost four out of five mobile phones shipped were made in India during Q1 2017. The imposition of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will have an impact on domestic manufacturing and the government will need to continue incentives for locally manufactured mobile phones to further push the domestic manufacturing ecosystem.

Meanwhile, mid end segment (₹15,000-₹20,000, $230-$310) witnessed the highest growth of 158 percent year on year during the same period and most of the growth was driven by Samsung, OPPO, vivo, Gionee, and Motorola.

Premium segment (₹30,000, $465) grew a healthy 35 percent year on year and Samsung retained the top position with 48 percent market share, followed closely by Apple at 43% market share. OnePlus, OPPO and Google made it to the top five in this segment, but each with marginal shares.

Commenting on the findings, Karn Chauhan, Research Analyst at Counterpoint Research said, "India's smartphone market is witnessing a focus shift in distribution strategy by major brands. Offline brands like OPPO, Vivo, and Gionee have now started focusing on online channels as well to gain extra market share. Online-only brands like Xiaomi and Motorola are moving fast into offline markets to widen their reach to the mass market, addressing consumers in tier-2 and tier-3 cities."