With around 25 companies doing the smartphone business in India and more waiting to come, this high and rich-feature category has witnessed significant growth in 2012 as compared to the previous year. last week, Gionee, a China based smartphones company made its debut in India .

According to a CyberMedia Research (CMR) study it grew to 15.2 million devices in 2012 registering a 35.7 per cent increase over 11.2 million units in 2011. This despite the fact that smartphone category comprises only 7percent in India.

In terms of handset sale India has 183.4 million users with feature phones reaching 206.4 million in 2012 from 172.2 million in the previous year with a growth of 19.9 per cent.

"Although we see a huge market 'hype' around smartphones, the fact remains that the India mobile handset market is still dominated by shipments of feature phones. On the other hand, smartphone shipments are growing fast," CMR Lead Analyst (Telecoms Practice) Faisal Kawoosa said.

He said that India being a new market has the largest sale of feature phones.

As far as the ranking of companies in the Indian market if concerned Nokia continue to lead the pack with 21.8 per cent share, followed by Korean giant Samsung (13.7 per cent) with Micromax which in the recent past gas given a tough competition to exiting handset giant occupies the third position with 6.6 per cent market share.

In feature phone ranking the three companies stand at the same positions with 22.5 percent 11.5pecnet and 6.5 per cent.

 But in smartphone category, Samsung tops the list with 43.1 per cent share, followed by Nokia (13.3 per cent) and Sony (8.2 per cent) in 2012 which pushed the struggling  BlackBerry to fourh position.

"We believe the struggle for leadership in the India smartphones market is going to intensify through 2013 as vendors bring new form factors to market," CMR Analyst (Telecoms Practice) Tarun Pathak said.

The study says that India handset manufacturers like Micromax, Karbonn and Lava will compete with their global counterparts in future. Samsung and Sony will further strengthen their positions with Galaxy S and Xperia series respectively.

According to another report, the smartphone market, that was about 16 million units in 2012 is expected to grow at a CAGR of 57% in the next five years, according to technology research firm IDC. ET caught up with Kiran Kumar, research manager, client devices, IDC India, to discuss the Indian smartphone market.

The reason for this is that new entrants are creating the relevant innovative products for its customers. Companies like Lenovo have already made a mark in Indian smartphone and tablet market

According to experts India is a price sensitive market with domestic vendors have done well in sub $200 price-bands while MNCs hold an edge in the higher priced categories.

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