• UNDERSTANDING THE INDIAN SMARTPHONE MARKET
The Indian smartphone market has once again picked up the pace after weakened sales growth due to Covid-19. The shipments grew by 82 percent on a YoY basis (compared to Q2 2020). It reached a record high of 33 million in the second quarter of 2021 despite the second wave of Covid.
• THE MARKET SHARE
Xiaomi, Samsung, and Vivo
Data released by Counterpoint on smartphone shipments states that Chinese brands owned over 80 percent share in the smartphone market. This was despite the Aatmanirbhar Bharat call in the country last year. Xiaomi is the leading brand with a 28% market share. While the Korean MNC Samsung has around 18 percent share. While another Chinese brand Vivo bagged third place with a 15 percent share. Also, four of the top 5 selling smartphone models were Xiaomi. Redmi 9A also retained its place as the best-selling model in this quarter.
Realme and OnePlus
Realme, a subsidiary of OPPO is leading the 5G smartphone segment in the country. It has a market share close to 22 percent, as per the data shared by the Counterpoint Research firm. They also assert, Realme became the fastest to reach the 50 million smartphone selling brand.
In the premium (price above 30k) and ultra-premium (price above 45k) segments, OnePlus and Apple respectively have dominated these segments. With OnePlus having 34% market and Apple having 49%. Though, premium offline-centric phone brands like Samsung and Vivo witness demands getting affected primarily due to the second Covid wave. Even the subsequent lockdowns in April and May.
Micromax and Lava: Put up a fight
Indian smartphone maker, Micromax which restarted selling smartphones last year has failed to leave any strong mark in the market. They continue to struggle for selling smartphones. The same is the case with Lava, another Indian smartphone brand. Last year after the Chinese intrusion in the Ladakh sector, the brutal clash between the Indian and Chinese armies lead to the martyrdom of our soldiers. Subsequently, a call for boycotting Chinese products started which led to Chinese companies losing their market share.
• SPECULATING THE WAY FORWARD
In the third quarter of 2020, Samsung had overtaken Xiaomi as the no.1 selling brand. Cruising its way on the popular M and F Galaxy series. However, gradually the anti-China movement lost its momentum. Primarily due to the companies maintaining a low profile and allegedly funding media houses for improving their image. With these results, it seems uncertain whether an Indian brand will rise in the top 5 selling smartphone brands in the country.
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