Xiaomi dominates India smartphone market as shipments touch 49mn mark in Q3

With a 26 per cent market share, Chinese handset maker Xiaomi continued to dominate the India smartphone market in the third quarter (Q3) of 2019, as smartphone shipments touched a highest-ever mark despite the economic slowdown, a Counterpoint Research report said on Thursday.

According to the "Market Monitor" report, driven by new launches, discounts and various pre-Diwali sales channels, the India smartphone shipments reached a record 49 million units even as the economic slowdown affted the other sectors.

Plyers such as Realme, Vivo, itel and OnePlus were the fastest growing smartphone brands shipping record volumes.

"The India smartphone market grew double digits reaching a record 49 million units in Q3 2019 offsetting the ongoing economic slowdown in other sectors.

"Given the maturity of smartphone users in terms of digital content consumption, commerce and communication, the smartphone has become central to people's lives taking a priority in terms of their share of wallet," Karn Chauhan, Research Analyst, said in a statement.

Xiaomi recorded in highest-ever shipments with which grew 7 per cent (YoY) driven by good performance of its models in the online segment. Redmi 7A, Redmi Note 7 Pro and Redmi Note 7S were the best performing smartphones for the brand.

With 20 per cent market share, Samsung's shipments declined by 4 per cent YoY. However, it has shown 3 per cent growth (QoQ) driven by its budget segment device Galaxy A2 Core and its upgraded A series and M series.

Apple made an entry into the top 10 smartphone brands due to price cuts on XR along with good demand for its iPhone 11.

Vivo reached its highest-ever share in the India smartphone market driven by good performance of its mid-segment series and increased focus towards the online segment with its recently launched devices U10, Z1X and Z1 Pro, and Realme also recorded its highest ever shipments.

Realme again become the fastest-growing brand, registering a six times growth as compared to last year when it entered the Indian market.

OPPO grew 12 per cent YoY amid demand for its budget segment device A5s and steady performance of its F11 series.

OnePlus emerged as the number one premium smartphone brand in Q3 2019 with its shipments getting almost doubled as compared to last year.

Even as the smartphone market registered a double-digit growth, the feature phone market witnessed a steep decline of almost 37 per cent (YoY) due to the slowdown in the new shipments from Reliance Jio as it was focused on clearing the older JioPhone inventory ahead of Diwali, said the report.

The feature phone players such as itel, Lava and Karbonn registered positive annual growth despite the overall segment declined. itel emerged as the number two feature phone brand in Q3 2019.