Chinese smartphone brands strengthen their grip on India, with Xiaomi displacing Samsung from top spot
- Xiaomi’s total smartphone shipments in India reached 41.1 million last year, representing 59 per cent year-on-year growth
Xiaomi unseated Samsung Electronics from top spot in India’s smartphone market last year on the back of successful online promotions to consumers, giving the Chinese company 29 per cent of the total market, according to a recent report by IDC.
South Korean brand Samsung, which was No 1 in India in 2017, fell to second spot last year with 22 per cent market share. Xiaomi’s total smartphone shipments in India reached 41.1 million last year, representing 59 per cent year-on-year growth.
On the whole, the Indian smartphone market grew 14.5 per cent in 2018, mainly driven by multiple rounds of online sales promotions during the fourth quarter ended December. The growth in India bucked the global trend, with worldwide smartphone shipments last year shrinking 4 per cent, according to IDC.
“Shipments of the online-exclusive portfolios of Xiaomi, Honor, Realme, Asus, OnePlus etc, further fuelled this growth,” Upasana Joshi, associate research manager at IDC India, said in a report.
Four of the top five smartphone brands in India are Chinese – Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo and Transsion – which together accounted for just over half of the country’s market.