The Indian mobile market grew by 12 percent in the third quarter of the year compared to the previous quarter, with dual-SIM devices driving shipments, according to research from analyst firm IDC. The Mobile Phone Tracker report found that 47.07 million units were shipped between July and September, representing a year-on-year increase of 13.8 percent. Dual-SIM handsets saw sequential growth of 25.2 percent.

Nokia increased its mobile device shipment share by 6.8 percent to hold 31.8 percent of the market and 35.3 percent in smartphones. Samsung achieved a 17.5 percent overall market share and increased its share in smartphones by 5 percent, placing it second with 26 percent of the market.

Overall growth for the Indian smartphone market was 21.4 percent over the previous quarter and 51.5 percent year-on-year. Smartphones shipments made up 6.5 percent of all mobile devices shipped, up from 5.6 percent in the second quarter. Nokia’s share fell slightly, which IDC research director Deepak Kumar attributed to the company preparing for its transition from Symbian to Windows Phone.

"Notwithstanding a sharp decline in the mobile service subscription adds during July-Sept 2011, the mobile phone shipments witnessed a spurt, as vendors built channel inventories ahead of a long festival season,” Kumar said.

Android overtook Symbian as the top mobile platform for the first time as it grew by 90 percent compared to the previous quarter to hold a 42.4 percent share of the smartphone market. Apple’s iOS consolidated its share with a 3.1 percent share of the smartphone market, up from 2.6 percent in Q2.

IDC forecasts that 2011 will see a total of 184.4 million units shipped in India rising to 301 million in 2015, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13 percent. The CAGR for smartphone shipments during the same period is forecast to be 63.4 percent with 77.5 million shipments in 2015.