Top 5 Chinese smartphone vendors targeting India

As growth in mobile sales in China slows down, many vendors from the country have targeted India as the next big growth market for smartphones. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Asia/Pacific Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, 26.5 million smartphones were shipped to India in the second quarter of 2015, up 44 percent from 18.4 million units for the same period last year.

IDC data show Chinese vendors have tripled their shipments year-on-year to India and doubled quarter-on-quarter. Lenovo, Xiaomi, Huawei and Gionee alone accounted for 12 percent of the total smartphone market in the second quarter, double that a year ago. Lenovo, as a group, is the only China-based original manufacturer in the top five list in India with 6 percent of the market.

"Key to the success of the Chinese vendors has been popular flash sales through online players such as Flipkart, Snapdeal, and Amazon. At the same time, they have also focused on bringing more 4G phones at affordable $100-150 price points, which is a segment left unattended by Indian and global vendors," said Kiranjeet Kaur, Research Manager with IDC's Asia/Pacific Mobile Phone team.

Let's take a look at some of the Chinese smartphone brands that have been targeting India.

[Photo / iamwire.com]

No 5 Meizu

Chinese smartphone maker Meizu is entering India and is rumored to be about to launch the MX5 smartphone at an event in New Delhi on August 26. The MX5 is Meizu's latest flagship smartphone, and belongs to the mid- budget segment. It is expected to compete with OnePlus 2, HTC One M9 Plus, ASUS ZenFone 2 Deluxe and Xiaomi Mi4.