BackXiaomi pips Samsung to regain top spot in Indian phone market
Though smartphone shipments grew 19% y-o-y (year-over-year) in December quarter, the shipments for CY 2021 declined by 4% y-o-y as the first half of the year remained severely impacted by the pandemic and lockdown led disruptions in supply chain.
PremiumChinese handset maker Xiaomi reclaimed the top spot with a 26% share of India’s smartphone market in the December quarter, after anti-China sentiments helped South Korea’s Samsung push ahead with a 24% market share in the previous quarter compared to Xiaomi’s 23%, as per Counterpoint Research. In Q4, Samsung registered 20% share of the Indian smartphone market.
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Though smartphone shipments grew 19% from the year earlier in the December quarter, shipments for calendar 2020 fell 4%, with the first half of the year suffering a massive sales decline post covid, and the lockdown disrupting supply chains. India shipped over 150 million smartphone units during the year.
“The anti-China sentiments largely subsided by the end of the year with Chinese brands holding a 75% market share in CY 2020. During the year, we saw innovative channel strategies from leading brands due to changed consumer behaviour," Shilpi Jain, research analyst, Counterpoint Research, said in a statement.
Counterpoint said Xiaomi’s decision to boost production by partnering with more electronic manufacturing service (EMS) companies helped it regain the top spot in India. Xiaomi also offered attractive schemes during the festive season to drive sales. Though Samsung’s share fell sequentially, it registered 30% year-on-year growth. The brand’s online channel shipments in 2020 grew 1.5x compared to 2019.
The combined market share of the top five brands—Xiaomi, Samsung, Vivo, Realme and Oppo—in the quarter was 82%, down from 89% sequentially, indicating a growing interest in other brands such as Apple
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