Nokia still top phonemaker in India

The total shipments of mobile handsets in India reached 102.4 million units during the first half of 2012, with Nokia continuing to reign at the top of the phone manufacturers' ranking with 22.2 percent share of the total shipments.

In a recent study by CyberMedia Research (CMR), the period between January and June 2012 saw 102.4 million units of mobile handsets shipped in India, with 5.5 million of these smartphones.

Nokia stayed top among the phonemakers as it continues to ride the growth of feature phones, which showed 16.9 percent growth during the six-month period. By comparison, smartphones grew at 12.2 percent. Samsung trailed the Finnish phonemaker with 13 percent of total unit shipments, while local manufacturer Micromax came in at 5.5 percent.

In terms of smartphones, though, Nokia fell to second place behind Samsung. The South Korean electronics giant recorded 41.6 percent of the 5.5 million smartphones shipped during the period, while Nokia came in at 19.2 percent. Research In Motion (RIM) rounded off the top three with 12.1 percent of the overall smartphone market.

Faisal Kawoosa, lead analyst at CMR Telecoms practice, said in the study the impending launch of high-value, aspirational smartphones in the coming quarters might push smartphone growth over feature phones.

"This push from vendors and the increasing maturity of the India mobile subscriber community is expected to further push smartphones up as a proportion of total mobile handset shipments in the country in the next few quarters," Kawoosa stated.