Chinese handset maker Xiaomi grabbed the top spot in the second quarter (Q2) of 2019 with a 28 per cent share as smartphone shipments in India grew to 37 million units, setting a second-quarter shipment record, a new report by Counterpoint Research said on Thursday. China's BBK Group that includes smartphone brands OPPO, Vivo, Realme and OnePlus became the leading smartphone manufacturer in India for the first time ever, capturing a combined share of 30 per cent, according to Counterpoint's "Market Monitor service" report.
Samsung's shipments declined by 7 per cent YoY, but, it has shown 30 per cent growth QoQ driven by refreshed A series and M series. Huawei's trade ban impacted India market as its shipments declined year on year (YoY), but, the brand continues to be in the top ten smartphone brands category. The India growth was 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," Tarun Pathak, Associate Director, Counterpoint Research, said in a statement. "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."
In the premium segment, OnePlus surpassed Samsung to become the number one player driven by strong demand for its newly launched OnePlus 7 series while Realme, ASUS, OnePlus and Nokia HMD were the fastest growing brands (YoY). "The top five brands' contribution to the volume of the total shipments reached its highest ever level driven by new launches and hybrid channel strategy. Localisation, branding, and innovation will remain to be the next key drivers for growth in a highly competitive market like India.
"The market will continue to become more concentrated with the majority of share controlled by a few brands leading to more number of exits among the long-tail brands in the market moving forward," said Anshika Jain, Research Analyst at Counterpoint Research. This is the third consecutive quarter that Realme has grabbed a spot within the top five brands driven by the strong performance of Realme C2 and Realme 3 Pro and discount offers rolled out on online platforms. Realme C2 crossed the one-million mark within a couple of months of launch. It became the fastest brand to reach 8 million smartphone shipments in India market within one year of its debut.
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