Samsung trumps Apple's tabs in India

Apple enjoys only 18.4 per cent market share whereas even BlackBerry PlayBook is reported to have 21 per cent market share in India.

Despite being the topper in the world tablet market, Apple has been left behind by Samsung in the Indian tablet market.

According to a research report of CyberMedia, Samsung commands 45.8 per cent market share in the 158,000 strong Indian tablet market. The Samsung tablet, Galaxy Tab 7 was launched in India back in October 2010, whereas Apple entered the Indian market late in January.

Apple enjoys only 18.4 per cent market share whereas even BlackBerry PlayBook is reported to have 21 per cent market share in India, according to the CyberMedia report. But the figure of 21 per cent is probably more about the number of tablets with the distributors rather than the number of tablets bought by the end users.

There are 27 tablet models available in India from 10 manufacturers. The well-known tablets available in India include Samsung Galaxy Tab, Motorola Xoom, Apple iPad 2, and BlackBerry PlayBook.

In the report, it was estimated that there will be major influx of cheaper tablets within the segment of Rs 7,000 to Rs 15,000 soon. The report notes the Indians users prefer to buy 7 inch tablets more and the operating system preferred by them is Android Froyo 2.2.

Another surprise, Indian tablet users prefer the 3G tablets more than the WiFi ones, which means they are not price conscious after all.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 was launched in India in August this year whereas the 8.9 inch tablet is expected soon. It is interesting to note that Apple has not filed legal action against Samsung in India, whereas it has done so in almost all other major markets. Probably, that is because Apple does not see India as a major market for itself.

Even otherwise, Samsung has been the only company which has posed a credible threat to Apple's iPad and that's probably the reason the company has faced numerous lawsuits from Apple as well. The apprehension proves itself in India. Just like the Apple flagship stores in the US and other major markets, Samsung has also opened its flagship stores in India.

Recently, Samsung had opened its smartphone cafe in Bangalore where users can experience the devices and not dummies, just like the Apple's retail stores abroad.

The idea of experience zones, however, is not new in India. Many companies such as Research In Motion, Dell, Nokia and even Lava have their own experience zones in India. Nokia calls its experience zones Concept Stores. Several carriers in India such as Aircel, Airtel and Vodafone have also set up their experience zones in India.