Sony most popular gadget brand on eBay for Q3 2012

Sony has topped the charts as the most popular gadget brand in the eBay India Battle of Gadgets Q3 Rankings. In a report based on an analysis of all gadget transactions on eBay India from July 1, 2012 to September 30, 2012, it was also discovered that tier II cities continued to buy more gadgets than metropolitan cities.

The research that showcased trends across five popular gadget categories of Mobile Phones, Laptops, Tablets, Digital Camera and Televisions saw Sony take over the number one slot in the overall gadget rankings followed by Samsung, Nokia, HTC and BlackBerry.

Sony ruled the roost in the Mobile Phone category with 7 out of 10 most sold phones belonging to the Xperia series and Xperia Arc S being the most sold smartphone on the site.  Nokia dominates the Value Phone category, but the change is evident. Smartphones are now the order of the day and value phones or dual SIM phones come only a close second to them.

Tier II cities fast purchasing gadgets: eBay report

Similarly with laptops, the noticeable trend is that Indians do not tighten their purses when it comes to purchasing expensive, state of the art gadgets. Dell, HP, Sony and Lenovo are the most purchased brands of laptops. Dell has overtaken Apple in its number one position followed by Sony and Lenovo in the Top Laptop Brands list. Chennai bought the most laptops in India followed by Delhi and Bengaluru.

When it comes to making what are considered long term purchases, Indians are open to spending heavily, provided it is backed up with weeks of research both on-ground and online. Tier II cities have also fast risen up to overtake metropolitan cities to purchase expensive gadgets like television sets, cameras and laptops. Bengaluru tops the charts for purchases of cameras, tablets and television sets.

Accessibility to the internet has become a crucial decision maker for smaller cities to research gadgets in order to shop online. “Gadgets are also a very popular purchase for non metro consumers as eCommerce helps bridge distribution gaps in their city. Purchases from non metros have gone up by 27 percent in this quarter,” Abhimanyu Lal, Head - Category Management of eBay India said in the report.

On the other hand, when it comes to buying tablets, the trend seems to be the exact opposite of mobile phones with iberry Auxus and BSNL Penta occupying the most sold slots. Top tablet makers like Apple and Samsung have been pushed to the bottom of the ladder by cheap and affordable budget Tablets.

Overall, Nikon and Canon jointly top overall Digital Cameras category with each holding 19 percent market share of all transactions for Digital Cameras followed by Sony in the third position. Canon EOS 550D is the most purchased digital camera model. Bengaluru followed by Chennai and Delhi were the top 3 cities indulging in Digital Cameras.

Top brand position in TVs has been retained by Samsung in the third quarter with more than 68 percent market share followed by Sony. Bengaluru followed by Chennai and Hyderabad are the top 3 TV cities. 32-inch TVs have been most purchased in the quarter followed by 40-inch.