NEW DELHI: Despite checks by the Indian agencies on Chinese mobile companies, these mobile makers still rule the Indian mobile market. According to the latest research from Counterpoint’s Market Monitor service, four Chinese brands find their place in the top five spots.
Xiaomi, which was accused of tax evasion by the Indian agencies, held the biggest market pie in the second quarter of 2022, with a 19% shipment share. It is closely followed by South Korean tech giant Samsung, then comes Chinese mobile makers Vivo with 17% market share, realme with 16% market share and Oppo held 11% market share.
“They (Chinese companies) might have done something wrong. But, everything, at the end of the day, is punishable and will be settled by paying some fine. Hypothetically, if these companies have done something very bad, then the government will have to stop them. But the big question is who will fill the gap,” said Faisal Kawoosa, founder and chief analyst at Techarc.
Recently the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided almost every top Chinese mobile brand including Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo and Huawei. The ED seized over `5,551 crores from Xiaomi on account of tax evasion. The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has detected customs duty evasion of `4,389 crores by Oppo India.
The ED raided at least 44 places across India in a money-laundering investigation against Chinese smartphone manufacturer Vivo and related firms. However, these raids barely had any impact on these mobile makers, as they still grab around 80% of the Indian market share. The reason, experts cite, is that Indian buyers don’t have any option available to them other than Samsung or Nokia.