Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi continues to lead the high-growth segment in the Indian market, according to mobile industry tracker Counterpoint Research. Counterpoint’s data shows that the brand’s market share remains at 28 per cent during the second quarter of 2019 (April-June), while most other brands have lost market share to the new entrant Realme. As a segment, smartphone shipments in India grew to 37 million units during the quarter, with growth driven by new launches, price cuts on older devices and channel expansion across brands.
“Brands which focused on offline channels expanded to online channels with online-exclusive series. Similarly, brands which entered the market with online-exclusive series are now expanding their reach towards offline channel by forming partnerships with key offline retailers.
This strategy is working well for all the leading at-scale players. Also, brands are launching multiple series to target or expand into new product tiers,” noted Tarun Pathak, associate director, Counterpoint.
Xiaomi’s success has come in tandem with its aggressive expansion in the sub-premium range, and the Indian market’s preference for phones in the price tag have helped it maintain its volume growth. “In India, the pricing sweet-spot for consumers has moved to Rs 10,000-20,000 price band and it will remain the biggest contributor in the India smartphone segment this year.
Brands are focusing on bringing the latest premium level specifications such as notch display, full-screen view, multiple rear cameras, pop up selfie feature and in-display sensor technology in this segment to stimulate consumer demand,” Pathak pointed out.
The quarter saw earlier trends being buttressed, with Xiaomi shipments growing 6 per cent year-on-year driven by portfolio expansion and aggressive offline expansion in the budget segment.
Meanwhile, Samsung shipments declined by 7 per cent, but the brand has shown a 30 per cent growth compared to the previous quarter, buoyed by the refreshed A and M series, price cuts for the older J series and higher channel incentives during IPL season.
New entrant Realme has continued to rapidly improve its position on the market. “This is the third consecutive quarter that Realme has been within the top 5 brands driven by strong performance of Realme C2 and Realme 3 Pro and various discount offers rolled out on online platforms.
Realme C2 crossed the 1 million mark within a couple of months of launch, and it has become the fastest brand to reach 8 million smartphone shipments in the India market within one year of its debut,” Counterpoint noted. Rival Vivo’s shipments remained almost flat YoY however, it added.