The smartphone user base in India crossed 220 million by end-2015, according to Counterpoint Research, making it one of the largest smartphone markets in the world. During the past year, smartphone sales in India grew by 23 per cent on a year-on-year basis. Further, research reveals that shipments of long term evolution (LTE)-enabled smartphones in the country reached 32 million units in 2015.
During the quarter ended December 2015, Samsung held the largest share of 28.6 per cent in the smartphone market. It was followed by Micromax with 14.3 per cent share, Lenovo (which also sells Motorola handsets) with 11.4 per cent share and Intex with 9.6 per cent share.
The year 2015 saw a number of new features being introduced in smartphones, offering a better price-to-performance ratio. Most of the phones offered full HD display with a screen resolution of 1080 pixels. In addition, some companies included Quad HD or 2K screens, giving a resolution of 2560×1440 pixels. Further, 3 GB RAM became a common feature, and some companies even offered 4 GB RAM. Features like fingerprint scanner were not confined to only high-end phones but were also provided in the sub-Rs 10,000 segment. Many international and Indian brands offered innovative camera propositions such as dual lenses, phase detection autofocus, front selfie flash and laser autofocus. The camera quality of smartphones also improved considerably with some smartphones delivering images comparable to point-and-shoot cameras. With the storage needs of consumers growing exponentially, brands like Samsung, Sony and LG offered smartphones with a base storage of 32 GB as compared to the earlier standard storage capacity of 16 GB. Indian brands such as YU also launched smartphones with 32 GB internal storage.
During 2015, leading smartphone vendors launched a plethora of affordable devices for the mass market in India. At the same time, they also introduced several models for the high-end segment. tele.net highlights some of the popular smartphones launched in 2015 in different price segments.
Flagship smartphones launched in 2015
- Sub-Rs 10,000: Several smartphones were launched in this entry-level price segment in a bid to upgrade feature phone users and encourage the mass adoption of smartphones. One popular handset launched in this range is the Lenovo K3 note. The handset, priced at Rs 9,999, runs on the Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system (OS) and features a 5.5 inch display with a screen resolution of 1,080×1,920 pixels. It is powered by a 1.7 GHz octa-core MediaTek MT6752 processor and comes with 2 GB RAM and a 2900 mAh battery. The phone has 16 GB of internal storage, which can be expanded up to 32 GB through a microSD card. It comes with a 13 megapixel rear camera and a 5 megapixel front camera. The dual-SIM smartphone offers connectivity options such as 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, global positioning system (GPS) and Bluetooth.
Meanwhile, Micromax’s subsidiary Yu Televentures introduced the Yureka Plus smartphone for Rs 9,999 in July 2015. It features a 5.5 inch full HD IPS display with a screen resolution of 1,080×1,920 pixels and runs on the Cyanogen OS 12, which is based on the Android 5.0.2 Lollipop OS. The Yureka Plus is powered by a 1.5 GHz 64-bit octa-core Snapdragon 615 SoC processor and has 2 GB RAM. It comes with 16 GB of internal memory, which is expandable up to 32 GB. The smartphone has dual-SIM support and comes with a 13 megapixel rear camera a 5 megapixel front camera. The handset is packed with a 2500 mAh battery and supports connectivity options such as 4G, Bluetooth 4.0, micro-USB, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and GPS. - Rs 10,000-Rs 20,000: This segment also witnessed significant activity in 2015. In an attempt to attract customers, handset vendors offered similar features as those of high-end smartphones in this price range. In September 2015, Motorola launched the Moto X Play smartphone priced at Rs 18,499 for the 16 GB internal storage variant and Rs 19,999 for the 32 GB variant. The device runs on the Android 5.1.1 Lollipop OS and is powered by the 1.7 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon octa-core processor. It features a 5.5 inch full HD display and has 2 GB RAM. The handset comes with a 5 megapixel front camera and a 21 megapixel rear camera.
- Rs 20,000-Rs 30,000: Buoyed by the success of its OnePlus One smartphone in India, China-based handset vendor OnePlus launched the OnePlus 2 smartphone at Rs 24,999. The device has a 5.5 inch LPTS LCD display with a resolution of 1,080×1,920 pixels and the screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 4. It runs on the Android 5.1 Lollipop OS and is powered by the Qualcomm MSM8994 Snapdragon 810 processor. The phone comes with a 13 megapixel rear camera with laser focus and dual-LED flash and a 5 megapixel front camera. It has 64 GB internal memory, 4 GB RAM and a 3300 mAh battery. As far as connectivity options are concerned, the 4G-enabled smartphone offers Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and micro-USB.
The closest competitor of OnePlus 2 at this price point is the Yu Yutopia smartphone, launched in December 2015. The handset features a 5.2 inch HD IPS display with a screen resolution of 2,560×1,440 pixels. It runs on the Android 5.1.1 CyanogenMod OS, is powered by a 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor and has 4 GB RAM. The device has 32 GB inbuilt memory, which can be expanded up to 128 GB. The dual-SIM smartphone has a 21 megapixel rear camera and an 8 megapixel front camera. It is packed with a 3000 mAh battery and offers connectivity options such as 4G, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. - Above Rs 30,000: While the aforementioned price segments were dominated by Chinese vendors, the popular phones in this segment came from market leaders such as Apple and Samsung. Samsung launched its Galaxy S6 Edge+ smartphone at Rs 57,900. The phone features a dual-edged curved 5.7 inch screen, protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 4, which promises a better multimedia experience. The device runs on the Android 5.1.1 OS and is powered by a 1.5 GHz quad-core Cortex-A53 and 2.1 GHz quad-core Cortex-A57 processor, and has a 3000 mAh battery. It has 4 GB RAM and 32 GB internal memory and comes with a 16 megapixel rear camera with autofocus and LED flash, as well as a 5 megapixel front camera. For connectivity, it offers options such as Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi direct, hotspot, Bluetooth, GPS, near field communications (NFC) and micro-USB 2.0. The smartphone is available in gold, platinum and silver titanium colour variants.
In October 2015, US-based vendor Apple launched the iPhone 6s smartphone in India. The phone is priced at Rs 62,000 for the 16 GB, Rs 72,000 for the 64 GB and Rs 82,000 for the 128 GB variants. It comes with a 4.7 inch display with a screen resolution of 750×1,334 pixels, is powered by an A9 processor and comes with 2 GB RAM. The device has a 12 megapixel rear camera and a 5 megapixel front camera. The handset runs on iOS 9 and comes with a 1715 mAh battery. The handset offers connectivity options such as 4G, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth and NFC.
What to expect in 2016
The year 2016 will most likely witness better features and specifications for low- to mid-range smartphones, and better design and faster-than-ever performance for high-end models. Optical image stabilisation and laser autofocus are expected to become common features, like LED flash. Moreover, camera megapixel count and dual-lens adoption will increase.
In addition, high-end smartphones are expected to come with faster DDR4 RAM. USB Type-C micro-USB ports, which offer faster charging and are compatible with USB 3.0 data transfers, could become the standard USB across all smartphones. Further, smartphone manufacturers are likely to offer either 32 GB or 64 GB base storage instead of 16 GB. In addition, 4G LTE could become the standard connectivity option in all upcoming smartphones.
Puneet Kumar Arora
