The co-founder of India’s biggest smartphone maker has accused Chinese rivals of dumping unsold inventory in India at low prices, in the latest sign of global unease over the knock-on effects of China’s slowing economy.

Micromax enjoyed rapid growth following the launch of its first mobile phone in 2008, and remains second only to Samsung Electronics in the burgeoning Indian smartphone market. But it lost ground last year to Chinese rivals whose market share hit 24 per cent in the first quarter of this year, double the level a year before, according to analysts at IDC.

Vikas Jain, one of four founders who oversee operations at Micromax, said this resulted from sales at exceptionally low prices by Chinese producers who were taken off guard by slowing smartphone market growth at home and in other major markets.