Xiaomi knocks Samsung off its perch to claim top spot for smartphone sales in India
The Indian market is now dominated by Chinese brands, with Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo and Lenovo all in the top five by shipments, according to Canalys
Smartphone maker Xiaomi has finally topped the sales chart in India, ending Samsung’s six-year reign in a market increasingly dominated by Chinese firms.
The Beijing-based company shipped 8.2 million smartphones during the fourth quarter of 2017, outstripping its South Korean rival’s 7.3 million units, according to a report published by Canalys on Wednesday.
Xiaomi entered the country in July 2014 and now commands a 27 per cent share of the smartphone market, just ahead of Samsung on 25 per cent.
According to a report by Counterpoint Research, also released on Wednesday, Xiaomi led smartphone shipments with 25 per cent of the total in the last quarter, ahead of Samsung’s 23 per cent.
Both sets of figures represent a remarkable increase for Xiaomi, which had only a 9 per cent share of the Indian market in the same three-month period of 2016, a long way behind Samsung on 24 per cent.
Players such as Xiaomi disrupted the status quo with an aggressive, broadly priced portfolio with effective channel expansion strategy
Xiaomi, often dubbed the “Chinese Apple”, has identified India as its next growth engine as it faces increasingly stiff competition in its home markets and looks for diversified, long-term earnings channels to shore up its plans for an IPO this year.