This happens to be the first time that Micromax has taken the lead from Samsung; it’s a five year old company that focuses primarily on affordable devices that cater to low-end and mid-range market segment. Micromax was able to steal the lead away from Samsung thanks to its strong feature phone sales. Samsung stayed ahead on Smartphones with 25.3 percent but Micromax breathes down its neck there as well with 19.1 percent of all smartphone shipments in India.

The next batch of Android One phones is expected from Acer, Alcatel OneTouch, HTC, Asus, Lenovo, Xolo, Lava and Intex. BlackBerry's Passport also poses a fresh challenge for Samsung.

"Samsung, the incumbent leader, is suffering from a classic pricing-disruption-by-upstart competition," said Neil Shah, research director (devices & ecosystems), CounterPoint Technology Market Research." "It will take at least six months for Samsung to recover or arrest the decline in terms of mindshare and market share if it exercises its vertical integration capabilities well with some corrective actions." It also needs to focus on design, he adds. "All the models look the same right now. From Galaxy Win to Galaxy S5, the design is stale and uninspiring."

To ensure its high profitability, Samsung has always launched its products at a high premium, and has dropped the prices after a few months.