Smartphone shipments touch record high in Q2

Xiaomi, with 22.3% share, closes in on market leader Samsung

The shipment of smartphones grew 13 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y) during July-September to touch a record high of about 40 million units, said Counterpoint Research. Last year, when the festive season began some three weeks earlier, handset players had shipped in close to 35 million units in the same period.

While smartphone imports usually surge during the September quarter every year in anticipation of higher sales in festive months, this year shipments grew more than average. According to Counterpoint analysts, “as brands pushed stock into the channels to tap the festive demand”, shipments surged higher.

Factors like destocking and the transition of the trade channel towards the goods and services tax (GST) regime during the first half of the quarter might also have played a key role. As trade partners and companies liquidated most of their stocks during June, inventory at the vendor level went down to a week’s stock from over 30 days’ that they usually maintain. This led to higher shipments, industry sources said.

A senior executive of a leading distribution company said that as various disruptions hampered sales during early GST days, expectations were higher from the festive season among manufacturers and traders.

While market leader Samsung managed to hold on to the top slot, it faced stiff competition from Xiaomi products. The Chinese consumer technology major increased its share to 22.3 per cent to strengthen its position in the second spot, while Samsung’s share stood at 22.8 per cent. 

Xiaomi was the fastest growing brand in India, growing 292 per cent y-o-y followed by Vivo and Oppo with 121 per cent and 117 per cent growth, respectively. Xiaomi’s impressive growth was backed by its top selling model, Redmi Note 4. The smartphone model remained the best-selling model for the third successive quarter. 

Micromax posted its best quarter since demonetisation impacted local brands last year. Micromax emerged as the third-largest feature phone player during the quarter. Its Bharat 2 was the top selling smartphone in sub-Rs 5,000 (US$75) segment. “Within first full quarter of its commercial operations Nokia HMD emerged as the fourth-largest feature phone brand in India - a significant feat for a brand looking for its re-entry,” Counterpoint observed.