(By Brindaa Lakshmi and Vikas SN) The Indian mobile market has reached approximately 218 million units for the year 2012, a 16% YoY growth from 2011 and the smartphone market has grown to 16.3 million units in 2012, up by 48% from 11 million units in 2011, according to a report by IDC. Note that IDC calculates sales of mobile handsets by tracking the number of handsets that leave the factory premises for OEM sales or stocking by distributors and retailers. For imported handsets it’s the number of handsets that leaves the first warehouse to OEMs, distributors and retailers. It does not account for handsets brought in by individuals into the country or the grey market and MediaNama is not in a position to verify the accuracy of the findings. Smartphone shipments: According to the report, the smartphone shipments in India reached a total of 5.4 million unit shipments in Q4 2012, up by 38% QoQ. It also noted that the market saw 5% QoQ decline in the shipments in the feature phone segment during Q4 2012, along with a decline in its market share to 90.9% market share in Q4 2012 from 93.5% market share in Q3 2012. It's interesting to know that while Smartphone shipment as been on rise, the growth in feature phone segment is declining. Does this mean that India is finally moving towards a smartphone market? Top 5 Smartphone Vendors According to the report, Samsung continued to be the number one smartphone brand in India, followed by Micromax and Sony. Nokia and local brand…
