CKD-Level Mobile Handset Manufacturing surpasses SKDs in 3Q 2018: CMR

According to CMR’s India Mobile Handset Market Review Report for 3Q 2018, India mobile handset market recorded 9% sequential growth during the quarter. Smartphones grew sequentially by 29% where as Feature phone shipments improved by 24%. Fusion phones witnessed a sequential decline of 41 %.

Make in India boosting CKD-level manufacturing

Make in India program is contributing to a significant rise in domestic manufacturing of mobile handsets.

According to Prabhu Ram, Head – Industry Intelligence Group (IIG), CMR, “As of 3Q 2018, local manufacturing has now seen a significant boost, with almost 94% being manufactured in India. CKD level manufacturing constitutes almost half of the overall market. Major smartphone brands such as Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi have moved largely to SMT. Reliance Retail Jiophone also entered into SMT production in 3Q 2018. Among domestic players, Lava has the major share in SMT production.”

The contribution of Indian domestic smartphone brands has increased sequentially by 2.5X during 3Q 2018. Micromax’s deal with Chhattisgarh Government to supply 5 million Smartphones has given it a fillip. If other Indian States were to follow suit, domestic smartphone players would see some positive tailwinds to return to growth, over the long-term.

In 3Q 2018, CKD level manufacturing has surpassed SKD manufacturing.

Booming Festive Season Sales

During the quarter, many smartphone brands went for aggressive launches and contributing to the decreasing shelf-life of smartphone models.

According to Narinder Kumar, Lead Analyst, IIG-CMR, “3Q 2018 saw sharp growth in Smartphones as well as feature phones meant for the festive season. Highly competitive smartphone market witnessed traction towards online sales supported by online sales with attractive discounts, buy back offers and financing schemes in October.”

Multi-camera Smartphones rising

During 3Q 2018, multi-camera Smartphones came to the fore, with primary multi-camera mobiles growing by 70% during the quarter.

“From a technology perspective, it is interesting to see the spurt in multi-camera Smartphones. With all things equal, smartphone brands are turning to multi-cameras as a unique proposition to attract buyers. We anticipate growth in multi-camera Smartphones to constitute half of all smartphones shipped in India by end-2018,” said Anand Singh, Analyst, IIG-CMR.