iBall Overtakes Samsung to Become Top Tablet Vendor in India: IDC

Data released by International Data Corporation (IDC) for Q4 2014 finds that iBall overtook Samsung in the Indian tablet market in terms of shipments, tripling its share in the market year-on-year.

Samsung, on the other hand, lost market share from Q4 2013 - dropping from 17.9 percent to 12.9 percent. iBall rose from 4.5 percent share to 15.6 percent. The top five was rounded off by Datawind in third place with a 9.6 percent share, Lenovo with a 9.4 percent share, and HP with an 8.7 percent share. Other vendors occupied 43.8 percent of the market.

IDC says iBall's growth is backed by "low cost products targeted at consumers looking to own entry-level form factors. The brand is actively engaged in expanding its retail presence as well as geographical reach."

The market research firm adds that after strong growth in the festive third quarter, the Indian tablet market expanded further in the fourth quarter. The period saw reported shipments of 0.96 million units, a quarterly growth of 3.6 percent.

IDC says the strong performance of local players as well as increasing interest of the PC OEMs in the tablets space contributed to the expansion of the market, adding the share of PC OEMs has grown by more than double year-on-year. Overall, 2014 saw cumulative shipments of 3.5 million, a decline of 15 percent from 2013.

As for form factors, IDC found 7-inch tablets costing less that $150 (Rs. 10,000) saw the majority of sales, and will continue to do so "in the foreseeable future." Though Android dominates, vendors are also looking at the sub-10-inch Windows tablet. Wi-Fi only tablets have seen a major drop in shipments, while Wi-Fi + 3G tablets have seen a boost - accounting for 60 percent of the total shipments in Q4. Wi-Fi + 2G tablets stayed much the same, so did Wi-Fi + 4G.

Kiran Kumar, Research Manager, Client Devices IDC India, described the Indian tablet market trend, saying, "Consumers are driving the wave of adoption of low cost tablets as a preferred mobility solution. We are also witnessing a higher inclination of consumers towards online buying platforms and vendors are keeping up with the trend."