"Also, 2016 is expected to be a year of transition when smartphone sales are expected to eclipse feature phones," says Karan Thakkar, senior market analyst (mobile phones & tablets), IDC.

Beside India, Firefox is targeting south-east Asia, Africa and Russia to peddle its low-cost smartphones by the end of 2014. "We will have new tie-ups, and the existing ones that are present in these countries will help us capture the market," said Hsu.

The competition isn't too intimidated. Says Vineet Taneja, CEO, Micromax: "Firefox is unlikely to hit the business of smartphone makers in India. Once people get a taste of smartphones, they will eventually want to upgrade to products like ours." Ian Fogg, analyst at IHS, says that while Mozilla handsets would cut into the market for smart-feature phones, it would not disrupt the smartphone market.

Despite the competition gaining muscle, Samsung could make a comeback. Counterpoint's Shah believes that Samsung should make its portfolio leaner, while introducing price-competitive hero models in each price band.

And if it were to tap the online mart with exclusive models, it could withstand the challenge from the likes of Motorola and Xiaomi.