• Reliance Retail’s JioFi devices contributed 73% market share.
• LTE based MiFi devices captured 91% market share in terms of unit shipments.
Gurugram/New Delhi, May 16, 2018: The Indian Data cards (USB & MiFi) market witnessed 18% decline in 1Q CY2018 when compared to the 4Q CY2017, according to CMR’s India Data Cards Monthly Market Review for March 2018.
“With 1Q 2018 being the end of the financial year vendors were busy clearing the previous stock than focusing on the fresh imports. Also, Reliance Retail imported huge shipments in January which gradually decreased by the month of March for the same reason. This automatically, slowed down the market at the end of 1Q,” observed Shipra Sinha, Lead Analyst, CyberMedia Research.
Reliance Retail continued to be on the top spot in the overall data cards market. However, its shipments witnessed 24% decline when compared to the previous quarter. On the contrary, Huawei witnessed 9% sequential growth in terms of its unit shipments due to the growth in shipments of its two popular models E3372H-607 and E5573Cs-609. Huawei and Alcatel collectively contributed 24% to the overall market share. The overall market was confined to just four vendors by the end of 1Q CY2018.
Reliance Retail’s fast moving JioFi model JMR541 captured the top spot with 49% market share.
“MiFi devices with inbuilt battery and portability will continue to rise capitalizing on the limited coverage of Wi-Fi routers and continuous power requirement by the conventional fixed-line broadband. Expansion of high speed internet user’s day by day and advancement in the telecom infrastructure and technology will make way for LTE/4G based device category to rule. With the advent of the new financial year, 2Q CY2018 is expected to witness rise in sales. Reliance Retail will continue to dominate on account of its strong user base with attractive internet plans attached to its MiFi models,” Shipra concluded.
