China’s rising smartphone stars may be expanding rapidly outside of the mainland, but domestic brands continue to hold more than a 50 per cent market share in Bangladesh, India and Indonesia.

Total mobile phone shipments in the three countries hit 89 million in Q4, with smartphones accounting for more than a third of all mobile phones shipped during the period, according to market research firm Counterpoint.

Growth in these countries has been across all price segments, with regional brands dominating the entry-level smartphone segment. Domestic players had a 62 per cent market share in Bangladesh, 52 per cent in India and 50 per cent in Indonesia, Counterpoint said.

Indonesia
Looking at the individual markets, Indonesia had the fastest smartphone growth – doubling to almost 10 million units in Q4 from the previous year. Smartphones accounted for half of all handset sales.

Samsung was the leader with a 26.4 per cent share, with local brands Smartfren and Evercoss number two and three. Oppo, ranked fourth, was the only other foreign brand in the top five. Its shipments increased 60 per cent from the previous quarter.

Bangladesh
Bangladesh’s smartphone market grew 83 per cent during the period. With smartphones accounting for just 16 per cent of mobile phone sales, vendors have a huge opportunity to tap first-time smartphone users.

Local brand Symphony led the smartphone market in Q4 with a 40 per cent share. Another domestic player, Walton, was a distant second with a 12.7 per cent share and Samsung, with a 9.1 per cent share, was third. It was the only foreign player in the top five.

Counterpoint senior analyst Tarun Pathak attributed Symphony’s success to its strong distribution and brand presence along with the customised mobile phone offerings relevant to local needs and preferences.

India
India’s smartphone growth was up just 6 per cent year-on-year in Q4. The 22 million smartphones shipped during the quarter represented 32 per cent of total handset output. It is now the world’s third largest smartphone market.

According to Counterpoint’s numbers, Samsung managed to hold on to the top position in the smartphone segment, with a 27.4 per cent share, followed by Micromax with a 19.5 per cent share.

However, figures from Canalys last week showed Micromax pipping Samsung for the top spot with a 22 per cent share vs Samsung’s 20 per cent.

Counterpoint had Intex as third (6.5 per cent) and Lava fourth (5.1 per cent), followed by Lenovo — the only Chinese brand in the top five. Xiaomi’s smartphone shipments expanded almost 250 per cent quarter-on-quarter, but the vendor failed to make it to the top five smartphone vendors during the quarter.