Micromax Sold More Tablets than Samsung, Apple in Q2 2012

New Delhi: The home-grown manufacturer Micromax reportedly sold more tablets than tech titans Samsung and Apple in India in Q2 2012 (Quarter ended June 30, 2012). The country's tablet PC market registered sales of 0.55 million units in the April-June 2012 quarter, led by Micromax, a report by CyberMedia Research (CMR) said.

According to CMR's India Quarterly Media Tablet Market Review, the India tablet PC market saw sales of 0.55 million in Q2 compared to 71,788 units in the same period last year. In January-March this year, the total shipment stood at 0.34 million, it said.

During April-June, 2012, Micromax led the tally with 18.4 percent share of the market, while Samsung followed at the second position with 13.3 percent share.

Apple occupied the third spot with 12.3 percent in terms of sales (unit shipments) during the same period, it added.

Though the tablet PC market in India is still at a nascent stage, but at the same time, has become competitive due to entry of new vendors with entry-level offerings, the report said.

Close to 90 vendors launched their tablets till Q2 2012. The average selling value (ASV) in the said period dropped to little above 13,000 from 26,000 in the January-March 2012 period as a majority of vendors launched their products in the 5,000 - 10,000 price range.

"During 2Q 2012, 47.4 percent of tablet sales were from new entrants in the market with a strong focus on addressing application areas in the Education and Entertainment segments," CMR Lead Analyst (Telecoms Practice) Faisal Kawoosa said.

This trend demonstrates clearly that vendors are positioning their devices at India's youth, he added.

Android operating system had the lion's share of the market at 87.5 percent.

"As Android devices become increasingly popular with users across the world, competition is increasing in the India tablets market with more and more vendors launching devices based on the Android OS," he said.

The share of devices based on other operating systems like Windows, iOS and QNX are expected to rise in future in view of the recent announcement of the Microsoft Windows Surface Tablet, the global launch of the Apple iPad 3 and reduction in BlackBerry Playbook prices, Kawoosa added.