IDC published a bleaker forecast for the smartphone market in 2015, noting that China is set to join North America and Europe in a “more mature growth pattern”.

While the research firm is still forecasting growth of 10.4 per cent this year to 1.44 billion units, this is down from its previous figure of 11.3 per cent.

China, which has seen strong smartphone growth in recent years, “remains the focal point” in 2015, although the results “haven’t been as positive as in previous years”, IDC said.

China consumed 32.3 per cent of all new smartphone shipments in last year, and “its importance remains great even if its growth has begun to slow”, IDC said.

Chinese shipments are forecast to grow by 1.2 per cent year-on-year in 2015, down from 19.7 per cent in 2014.

Ryan Reith, programme director with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, said: “India has captured a lot of the attention that China previously received and it’s now the market with the most potential upside. The interesting thing to watch will be the possibility of manufacturing moving from China and Vietnam over to India.”

With vendors increasingly looking to manufacture devices in India, in order to cut costs and capitalise on financial benefits associated with local manufacture, “it is the local vendors like Micromax, Lava, and Intex that will feel the most pressure from international competition within its market,” Reith continued.