One in three smartphones sold in India last year was sold through e-commerce channels, with Flipkart accounting for almost half of all smartphones sold online.

According to Counterpoint Research, smartphone vendors in the country have been pushing their e-commerce strategies for just 18 months.

“This trend has not only allowed newer brands to offer attractive pricing, but it also has driven e-commerce channels to become an important channel to distribute and sell mobile phones in India,” said Counterpoint Research senior analyst Tarun Pathak.

Last year Flipkart, Amazon and Snapdeal accounted for more than 90 per cent of online smartphone sales volumes in India (see chart below, click to enlarge). Amazon tripled its smartphone sales in 2015.
India-ecommerce sales
Lenovo captured 25 per cent of its smartphone sales through e-commerce channels, Pathak said. This has helped the vendor expand its share of the smartphone market to 8.6 per cent from 5.2 per cent in 2014.

India has the second largest number of smartphone users in the world, behind China, but only four out of ten mobile phone users own a smartphone.