India Ships 37 Million Smartphones, Highest Ever In Q2

Driven by new launches, price cuts on older devices and channel expansion across brands, smartphone shipments in India grew to 37 million units, a second-quarter shipment record, a report said on Thursday.

According to data published by Counterpoint’s Market Monitor, Xiaomi retained the top spot during the quarter with a 28 per cent share, while Samsung’s shipments declined 7 per cent.

However, Samsung showed 30 per cent growth quarter on quarter (QoQ), driven by refreshed A series and M series smartphones, price cuts on older J series and higher channel incentives during the IPL season, the report said.

“Brands which focussed on the offline channel, expanded online, with online-exclusive series. Similarly, brands which entered the market with online-exclusive series are now expanding their reach towards the offline channel by forming partnerships with key offline retailers. This strategy is working well for all the leading at-scale players,” Tarun Pathak, Associate Director, Counterpoint Research, said.

BKK Group’s share at 30%

Also, brands are launching multiple series to target or expand into new product tiers. This is helping them to expand their product portfolio to target multiple fast-growing segments and also diversify, he said.

The report noted that the BBK Group — the combined holding group of Oppo, Vivo, Realme and OnePlus — captured the top spot in Indian smartphone market for the first time with a combined 30 per cent market share.

It also said that this is the third consecutive quarter that Realme has been within the top five brands driven by strong performance of Realme C2 and Realme 3 Pro and various offers rolled out on online platforms. Realme C2 crossed the one-million mark within a couple of months of the launch, it said.

“It became the fastest brand to reach eight-million smartphone shipments in the Indian market within one year of its debut for any brand ever in India,” Counterpoint said.

However, Huawei’s trade ban also impacted the Indian market as its shipments declined YoY, the report mentioned. But, it also said that the brand continues to be amont the Top 10.

Commenting on the overall smartphone market, Anshika Jain, Research Analyst at Counterpoint Research, said: “The top five brands’ contribution to the total shipments volume reached its highest ever level, driven by new launches and hybrid channel strategy. Localisation, branding and innovation will be the next key drivers of growth in a highly competitive market like India.”―The Hindu Business Line