Ajay Sharma
For Indian Smartphone Brands - Is There Light At The End Of The Tunnel?
Has the path for the Indian smartphone brands hit a dead end? Do they have a way forward? Read on...
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Hi, I'm Ajay!
... and here's a little about me.
Smartphone industry veteran with over 11 years of proven track record in launching 4 brands. Instrumental in launching HTC as a brand in India and Micromax (A leading Indian handset brand) in the smartphones' category.
With over 38 years of cross-industry experience, a professional with a great understanding of the domestic and international business operations with excellent channel and media connections.
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THE BIOSCOPE
Into the world of handsets' industry and more...
These are my personal views only!
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Ajay Sharma
- Aug 18, 2021
- 5 min
Not So Smart(phone) Data
The market share representation by all smartphone brands in India - correct or not?
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Ajay Sharma
- May 23, 2021
- 5 min
Mainline DistributionSHIP - Heading Towards An Iceberg?
This blog is not about brands, market shares or even projections. This blog is about the future of the traditional mainline distributors of smartphones in India. I do foresee tough times for them in the future. Some of you may find my views too strong, but this is what I feel personally based on information I have collected from different sources. There are a lot of happenings which got me thinking on the future of this community. Examples: 1. An article which said that Udaan
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Ajay Sharma
- Dec 23, 2020
- 5 min
Indian smartphones market gets ready to hit the 200 million mark in 2021!
Indian smartphones market gets ready to hit the 200 million mark in 2021! The big question - Will the Chinese occupy only 50% of it?
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Ajay Sharma
- Jun 22, 2020
- 6 min
It’s A Game Of Snakes And Ladders. Will The Brands Once Ruling, See Themselves Sliding Down?
There may be a re-shuffle in the brands' market shares. My views on who'll lose and who'll gain!
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Ajay Sharma
- Apr 10, 2020
- 6 min
Forget 20:20, it’s a test match!
IML 20:20 - Indian Mobile League. Mobile makers need to play this one more like a test. Are they ready?
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Ajay Sharma
- Mar 8, 2020
- 5 min
The BBK Group Attack Makes Samsung Bleed. Xiaomi, Comes Out Unscathed!
It’s always better to be objective, so let’s first table some data on the Indian Smartphone market. Table 1 * Data as per IDC Table 2 * Data as per IDC Table 3 * Data by Phonearena Notes:
a. The data shown in Table 1 and 2 is for the last 3 years or 12 quarters from Q1 2017 till Q4 2019. b. The data is divided into two periods – Q1 2017 till Q2 2018 and Q3 2018 till Q4 2019. This serves the purpose of comparing two equal periods – Six quarters prior to the entry of #Realme
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Ajay Sharma
- Feb 12, 2020
- 6 min
Viva La Vivo. The Now No.2 Brand, Guns For No.1 Spot!
The IDC data for 2019 is out! And… #Xiaomi, as expected, retains its No. 1 position with 28.6% market share followed by #Samsung at 20.3%. #Vivo manages to find itself hugging the No.3 spot with a 15.6% share. Amongst the top 3, the highest YoY growth was recorded by Vivo at 67%, and Samsung’s declining by approximately 3%. If we were to only focus on the Q4 data, Xiaomi is at 27% market share followed by Vivo at 18.8% and Samsung at 15.5%, taking Vivo to the No.2 position. A
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Ajay Sharma
- Jan 25, 2020
- 6 min
The Real(me) Downfall!
The Real data for the first two months of Q4 (October and November) is just out. And, there are various articles, discussions and opinions being shared on various platforms on the steep decline (volume-wise) in Realme’s market share. I have also been asked for my opinion, and while I have responded in bits and pieces, I’d like to take you through the projections I’d made in one of my previous blogs wherein I’d written about the brand projections for Q3. Should you like to rea
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Ajay Sharma
- Dec 9, 2019
- 6 min
Twenty Two Days For Twenty Twenty!
As 2019 draws to a close, all eyes will be on what 2020 will offer! To recap, 2019 was a year: 1. With the least growth since 2016. From 14% in 2017-18 to a 7-9% this year. (As per IDC) 2. When the BBK group moved full steam ahead with the “New kid on the block” #Realme coming up as a challenger brand. 3. When #Samsung saw it's market share declining and coming sub 20% for the first time. 4. That witnessed an increased share of online with the offline reacting to it sharp
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Ajay Sharma
- Nov 19, 2019
- 5 min
Song Sung, Rather A Ridiculed One, For Samsung
India is the 2nd largest and the highest-growing smartphone market amongst the top 3 markets globally. It is also a market that has the highest room to grow with a smartphone penetration rate of just 25%. With the global market being essentially flat or marginally declining, India is therefore treated with great importance by the top 10, more so, the top 5 brands. If one has to see the contribution of the brands other than the top 5, this has been declining QoQ and is already
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Ajay Sharma
- Sep 15, 2019
- 6 min
Times They Are A-Changing! Whoever Had Heard Of Offline Vs. Offline Earlier?
To,
My Friends,
C/o Offline Space
India Let us start with the data for Q2 (Source: Counterpoint) on the growth in the two channels – offline and online. Well, offline has shown a degrowth of 4% and online has shown a growth of 26% YoY. Even offline-first brands like #Samsung, #Oppo and #Vivo have shown high growth online. We can all blame it on various factors such as aggression of online, poor walk-ins at offline stores and so on. Yes, these may be some of the reasons. But,
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Ajay Sharma
- Sep 3, 2019
- 4 min
Brands' Projection For Q3, 2019
September will bring the highest selling quarter for mobile phones, as well as most other products, as per past trends, to an end. We are already in early September, and it would be worthwhile to try and analyse the Q3 projections. The brand-wise rankings for the top 5 have been consistent in the last 2 quarters (H1) - with #Xiaomi at the top and #Realme at the bottom. What is the expected movement in Q3, if any? My analysis is based on the following parameters: - Past trends
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Ajay Sharma
- Feb 26, 2019
- 5 min
Aspirational Customers Skip Price As Key Factor
The price specification game may get over sooner than later. It has to! I have been observing the different ways the brands are playing on the Indian turf and the way forward for them keeping the age old adage “Change is the only constant.” in mind. On one hand we have brands like #Xiaomi and #Realme leveraging the price specification ratio. On the other, brands like #Oppo and #Vivo are driving sales through marketing and channel spends.
Samsung has had a more balanced appro
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Ajay Sharma
- Feb 12, 2019
- 5 min
Indian Smartphone Market: Every Brand’s Go-To!
In today’s day and age, it’s best for any brand to hike up their stake in the mobile phone business in India. The country’s smartphone market growth vis a vis global is 3x by value percentage. Let’s have a look at conclusions and ramifications. There are various agencies which share quarterly data on shipments of mobile phones – both global and country specific. IDC, Counterpoint, Canalys, Statista, TechArc (India specific) to name a few. For ease of understanding, the data i
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Ajay Sharma
- Feb 4, 2019
- 6 min
Samsung: The ‘M’peror Strikes Back!
Ready to disrupt the market tomorrow i.e., February 5th! Sa’M’sung is not used to being the No. 2 brand for long, and it is since Q4 of 2017, as per Canalys, that they lost the No. 1 position to #Xiaomi. It must have been very difficult for the Koreans to digest it. Their think tank would have been working overtime in this period trying to understand what and where was the issue backend, and here’s what they decided to do: · Play the price:specification war like Xiaomi and #
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Ajay Sharma
- Dec 24, 2018
- 7 min
Can Santa Claus Be The Guardian Angel?
2018 has been a pretty eventful year for the smartphone industry. Let me recapitulate some of the interesting ones, and hope 2019 brings in potluck of fortune. Market Size The smartphone market should touch approx. 145 million devices this year. This implies – a less than 10% growth. While Q3 was a great quarter, Q4 is looking below average. One could say that for a growing market like India, the growth is not that great. But, in the light of the entry of #Jio “Fusion Phones”
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Ajay Sharma
- Dec 10, 2018
- 7 min
Rewriting. Rewiring. Reviving Offline.
With the online channel feasting, and the offline surviving on morsels, it’s time they change the game before the game has ended. My ideas (outlandish it may seem to some) on how to get the offline get up and get moving. Online hampering the offline channel is a HOT topic today.
Mobile phones, typically, constitute close to 60-65% of an online channel’s product portfolio, making it the single largest product category in terms of revenues for any online player. Thus, leaving
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Ajay Sharma
- Nov 29, 2018
- 5 min
Oppo India In The Soup?
Losses pile on. #OppoIndia’s MD Yi Wang quits. Oppo launched its first phone in India in January 2014. It was in February 2015, 1 year post its launch, I met one of their senior heads through a common friend at their then office on Sohna Road, Gurgaon. “Tony” was his name, if I remember it correctly. The discussions got around Oppo sales not growing to their expectations despite the investments. They had closed the calendar year 2014 with approx. 100k phones (as per my data t
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Ajay Sharma
- Nov 27, 2018
- 6 min
Comio exits India. More to follow?
My insights on how to hedge risks in this volatile Indian smartphone market. Got this news yesterday of #Comio abruptly closing its operations in India with the Chinese brand owners allegedly absconding, leaving the Indian team and partners high and dry. (This news now also stands confirmed in one of the posts by Sanjay Kalirona in a Whatsapp group). A very sad thing to have happened, as it will affect thousands of people attached to the brand directly or indirectly. The dama
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