GST, Internal Memory Extension in Smartphones Account for Consumer Storage Flash Memory Market Downfall in 2Q’ CY 2017

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The Overall market registered an 8% fall Q o Q in 2Q’ CY 2017; However, MicroSD segment recorded 2% growth Q o Q during the same period.

New Delhi/Gurugram, 14 Sep, 2017: The overall India Consumer Storage Flash Memory market, comprising Micro SD cards, SD cards and Flash drives, witnessed a 53% decline in 2Q CY 2017 as against 2Q CY 2016, in terms of units shipped.

When compared to 1Q CY 2017, the market recorded an 8% decline. This was revealed in CMR’s India Consumer Storage Flash Memory Quarterly Market Review, 2Q 2017, Sept-17 release.

According to Shipra Sinha, Analyst, Consumer Storage Flash Memory Market, “The Micro SD Cards are the largest contributor to the consumer storage flash memory market and therefore, the growth of large internal memory mobile phones has influenced the sector a lot. Lot of price variations among the branded products resulted in the stocks accumulation in 2Q CY 2017, this became one of the major factors of decline of overall Consumer Storage Flash Memory Market in 2Q CY 2017”.

“The sales were largely affected especially in June 2017 because of current Modi Government’s plan to introduce Goods and Services Tax (GST) in July 2017.The plan to launch GST forced the brands to buy very limited stocks which they could sell in that same period. Hence GST became the second most important factor of decline of Consumer Storage Flash Memory Market in 2Q CY 2017,” Shipra added.

Market Leadership                                                                                                    

In the overall India Consumer Storage Flash Memory market, SanDisk continued to be the most favored vendor. However, its market share decreased from 50% in 1Q CY2017 to 41% in 2Q CY2017.
Strontium grabbed the number two position and Sony captured the number three spot in terms of unit shipments in 2Q CY 2017.

Micro SD category witnessed 2% growth in 2Q CY 2017 when compared to the previous quarter in terms of units shipped. SanDisk remained the top contributor with 24% market share in 2Q CY 2017. Strontium was at second position beating Samsung which was at the third spot in 2Q CY 2017. Shipments of Unbranded Micro SD grew from of 26% in 1Q CY2017 to 55% in 2Q CY2017 respectively because of price variations among the branded Micro SD cards resulting in increase in demand of Unbranded Micro SD Cards within that period.

Micro SD and Flash Drive segment collectively contributed around 98% of the overall Consumer Storage Flash Memory Market in 2Q CY 2017 in terms of unit shipments.

Among the top ten Flash Drive models, SanDisk’s Cruzer Blade (SDCZ50) and Ultra Dual Drive (SDDD3) were the most favored models in 2Q CY2017.

Capacity Trends

4 GB was the major contributor with 30% market share of the overall flash devices market in 2Q CY2017. This was because of the increase in the unit shipments of Unbranded 4 GB Micro SD cards in 2Q CY 2017.

16 GB capacity segment contributed 29% of overall flash devices market in 2Q CY2017.This capacity segment declined by 31% in terms of units shipped in 2Q CY 2017.

Future Trends

According to Shipra, “Lucrative offers floated by different brands during the forthcoming festive season, sellers buying the usual stocks after the dust being cleared around GST will pace up the sales in coming quarter. Streaming and downloading videos, entertainment and gaming apps, and other apps consuming large memory space, would further drive the further growth of Micro SD in the near future. Going forward the market will witness a shift towards higher capacity segments because of almost all major vendors moving towards implementing 3D Flash Technology in their manufacturing process.”

Notes for Editors

  1. CyberMedia Research (CMR) is a pioneering market intelligence and consulting firm that runs a comprehensive quarterly market update on the India Consumer Storage market. CMR’s India Quarterly Consumer Storage Flash Memory Market Review covers Micro SD cards, SD cards and Flash drives sold via distributors and retail outlets. The report accounts for ‘legal’ shipments, but does not include bundled or ‘grey’ market shipments or units brought from abroad by individuals as a part of personal baggage.
  2. CMR uses the term “shipments” to describe the number of consumer storage flash memory devices leaving the factory premises for OEM sales or stocking by distributors and retailers. For the convenience of media, the term ‘shipment’ is sometimes replaced by “sales” in the press release, but this reflects the market size in terms of units of consumer storage flash memory devices and not their absolute value. In the case of flash memory devices imported into the country, it represents the number leaving the first warehouse to OEMs, distributors and retailers.

About CyberMedia Research and Services Ltd

A part of CyberMedia (www.cybermedia.co.in), South Asia’s largest specialty media and media services group, CyberMedia Research (CMR) has been a front runner in market research, consulting and advisory services since 1986.

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