Samsung Electronics is supporting LTE network system business of Indiantelecom company Reliance Jio which will run 4G service early next year. Thephotograph shows Samsung Electronics' Bengaluru institute./ Photographed by HaMan-joo

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By Ha Man-joo, India correspondent, AsiaToday - Samsung Electronics is leading the fourth-generation (4G) smartphone market in India.

The Economic Times (ET) and other Indian local media outlets reported Tuesday that sales of 4G based smartphones is growing at 26% month-over-month, citing the International Data Corporation's (IDC) India study. 4G-based smartphone accounted for more than 50% of 9.3 million smartphones sold in the month of October. And the sales is primarily driven by Samsung Electronics, Lenovo, and Apple.

According to IDC, shipments of 4G phones to India rose 21.4% in the third quarter of 2015 compared to the same period last year. In the third quarter, the 4G phones saw almost a three-fold increase in unit shipments over the second quarter of 2015. Such rapid growth is remarkable considering that the telecoms' 4G service is not so satisfactory.

The data said that it was mainly contributed by smartphone makers such as Samsung, online shopping malls, and consumer pattern of Indian consumers.

Samsung Electronics launched 18 4G phones this year. In particular, Samsung is leading the 4G market in India by providing entry smartphones that have a large screen yet start with Rs 8,000 (KRW 140,000), such as On5, On7, Galaxy Grand Prime and Galaxy J2.

In addition, Samsung Electronics is supporting LTE network system business of Indian telecom company Reliance Jio which will run 4G service early next year.