India 2012 tablets shipments top 3.11 million; Samsung, Micromax, Apple top vendors

According to CME report, Samsung is the leader in the tablet category with 25.1 percent share for the CY 2012. At second spot is Micromax with 14.3 percent market share. Apple with 9.1 percent market share was at the third spot.

Talking about the growth in the Indian tablet market, Faisal Kawoosa, Lead Telecoms Analyst, CMR said, "The year 2012 and particularly the last two quarters (3Q 2012 and 4Q 2012) were significant for the India tablets market. We have seen the market for these devices grow substantially in 2012, particularly in the second half which made up for over 70 percent of the total sales."

To this Tarun Pathak, Telecoms Analyst, CMR added, "Samsung has been able to maintain the lead in the market only because of the first-mover advantage with the Galaxy Note and the Galaxy Note II. But this is not a sustainable strategy in the long term, as it has resulted in creation of the new 'phablet' form factor, attracting competitors at both ends of the price spectrum to follow suit. With the entrance of Apple at the top end and multiple Chinese and Indian players at the entry-level, the phablet segment is only going to see increased competition in the foreseeable future."

CMR report also states that, 'phablets' as a category constituted around 16.5 percent of the tablet market in 2012 and CMR expects this trend to grow further in the coming quarters. Given the number of devices that are being launched under the 'phablet' category, CMR is planning to have separate segment for them going forward.