Reliance Retail’s JioPhone has successfully created a new category of Fusion phones in India: CMR

According to CMR’s India Mobile Handset Market Review Report for 2Q 2018 released, in a historic first for mobile handset brands in India market, mobile handset shipments are set to cross 300 Mn milestone by end-2018. The new CMR estimates also point out that smartphones will outstrip feature phones and fusion phones collectively by 2020.

Commenting on the major trends witnessed, Prabhu Ram, Head – Industry Intelligence Group (IIG), CMR said, “In 2Q 2018, with the ushering in of the CKD level manufacturing, there are two broad trends underlining short-term turbulence. These include the impact of Jio’s disruptive Monsoon offer leading to erratic demand projection estimations for all major handset brands, and secondly, the capabilities of smaller players to switch to CKD manufacturing and maintain production levels with their own SMT lines.”

“In 2Q 2018, Samsung’s continued brand loyalty in India paid dividends with its new refreshed portfolio enabling it to trump Xiaomi in the cut-throat smartphone competition. Whether it
be the new rich features, camera or screen innovations, they all helped it in making dents.
In line with predictions made by CMR earlier, smartphone brands, HTC exited from the
India Market in 2Q 2018. On the other hand, it is remarkable to note that ASUS scripted a positive
turnaround, on the back of a revised market strategy and astute stewardship,” Prabhu stated.

As per Narinder Kumar, Lead Analyst, IIG-CMR, “2Q 2018 saw the arrival of Fusion phones as a distinct category. Though it is primarily driven by Jio Phone, Indian brands like Micromax and Lava are also shipping in smaller quantities.” “Going forward, it is expected that other brands shall also explore Fusion phones and excite the consumers with enriched smart capabilities within the feature phone form factor. However, the success would like in how it penetrates into the open market, albeit telecom operators supporting the initiative, Narinder concluded.”

CMR 2Q 2018 Highlights

Smartphones grew 17% on annual comparison driven by strong performance registered by brands
including Honor, Realme and Vivo. The other factor was that 2Q 2017, had relatively done below the quarterly average as the segment was taken aback by demonetization.

28% decline was registered in feature phone category YoY, which is being taken by Fusion phones.
Reliance Retail led the overall shipments with 27% market share across segments during 2Q 2018. This was followed by Samsung.