Samsung leads India's Q1 smartphone sales, Xiaomi jumps to second place: Counterpoint

Smartphone shipments in India registered a growth of 15 percent annually in Q1 2017, reaching 29 million units, according to the market research firm Counterpoint's latest report for Indian smartphone market.

Samsung continued to be the top smartphone vendor in the country (26 percent share), followed by Chinese device makers, Xiaomi (13 percent), vivo (12 percent), Oppo (10 percent) and Lenovo/Motorola (8 percent). These five smartphone brands accounted to almost 70 percent of the total smartphone market. Devices in the mid-range segment  (Rs 15,000-20,000)  witnessed the highest growth on 158 percent during the quarter with major contributions to the growth from brands like Samsung, Oppo, Gionee and Motorola.

The premium smartphone segment (over Rs. 30,000) grew 35 percent year-on-year with Samsung taking 48 percent of the market share, followed closely by Apple at 43 percent. OnePlus, Oppo and Google, also reached to the top five in the premium segment, but each with minor shares.

Almost four out of five mobile phones shipped were made in India during the first quarter. Also, LTE-enabled smartphones contributed to 96 percent of total smartphone shipments during the quarter.

Furthermore, sales of selfie-centric smartphones grew nine fold annually, driven mainly by brands like Oppo (F-series), vivo (V5, V5s, V5 Plus) and Gionee (A1). This is no surprising, as these three brands sell their device through offline stores, and most of these stores in the country first suggest Oppo or vivo smartphones, even though, there are better options available online like Xiaomi or Motorola brand. Also devices with 8MP and higher selfie camera are the fastest growing trends in the market.

The report also mentions that smartphone market in the country is witnessing a focus shift in distribution strategy by major brands. Offline players in the country are now focusing on online channels to gain extra market share, while online only brands (Xiaomi, Motorola, Honor and others) are entering the offline market to widen their reach to address customers in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. 

Source | Via