India overtakes US to become second largest smartphone market

According to a report by Singapore-based research firm Canalys, India has overtaken the U.S to become the second larget smartphone market in the globe after China. To remind you China overtook U.S in 2013 to become the biggest smartphone market.

The report further said that after a 'wobble' in Q2, 2017, India's smartphone market recovered with shipments growing 23 percent YoY in Q3 2017 to reach just over 40 million units. "Low smartphone penetration and the explosion of LTE" are the main drivers for the growth, and going forward, the shipments are expected to grow. 

“This growth comes as a relief to the smartphone industry. Doubts about India’s market potential are clearly dispelled by this result,” said Canalys Research Analyst Ishan Dutt.

Despite posting excellent results, the market continues to concentrate, with the top five vendors: Samsung, Xiaomi, vivo, Oppo and Lenovo/Motorola, accounting for 75 percent of market share.

Samsung again lead the market with over 9.4 million smartphone shipments, which is 30 percent more than Q3 last year. While Xiaomi on the other hand is inching closer to overtake Samsung, and is likely to take the top spot next quarter. It shipped 9.2 million smartphones which is 290 percent increase YoY.  

Both Samsung and Xiaomi  accounted for almost half of the shipments in the Q3 2017. vivo, Oppo and Lenovo/Motorola, on the other hand also posted strong growth in Q3, 2017.

Meanwhile, iPhone shipments were doubled YoY. Apple shipped 900,000 units in Q3, 2017, compared with Q3 2016, thanks to Apple's local production of iPhone.