The global smartphone market is slowing down with a drop of 6.1% YoY in Q1 2019 but not India. The Indian smartphone market is on the rise with a 7.1% increment, which saw more than 30 million shipments in the first quarter alone.
This stat speaks for itself; Big smartphone makers company are vying to be the big dog in India. As there is still room for growth, with more than half of India’s 1.4 billion population without a smartphone. As seen in the Amazon sales where phone worth Rs 750 crore were sold under 36 hours, and the same was the case for Flipkart. So, today, we will look at smartphone brands that are ruling the Indian market.
- Xiaomi: Xiaomi is killing it in the Indian market, as the company holds almost 30% of the market share. The company sold almost 10 million phones alone in Q1 2019. This trend was continued in Q2 with Redmi 6A and Redmi Note 7 being the most hold handset. The reason behind this market share is that Xiaomi has established itself as the budget phone. Most of Xiaomi’s phones are under 10k and are used by the massive middle-class population of India. Plus, Xiaomi phones are also dependable and not easily broken, which makes it ideal for a country that believes in savings.
- Samsung: Samsung is having a turbulent time in India; the company holds a 28% market share in Q2 2018 but fell to 20% but now stands at 25%, which is not bad. However, a few years back, Samsung holds the position which Xiaomi does now. But lately the company is in resurgence with new ‘M’ series Smartphones. Clearly, Samsung has learned from its mistake and is pandering to both the upper class and middle class of India.
- Apple: The story of Apple is very different from other companies. Apple doesn’t roll out multiple phones each year; instead, they have a huge loyal base that buys its phone. In fact, Apple’s YoY revenue was down by 12% in Q2, but it saw a 19% rise in India. Another aspect of Apple share in India is that even it’s lower model phones are sold at a high price and high number. For example, iPhone 7 is still in demand and is sold at 25000 rupees.
- OnePlus: OnePlus success story in India is a dream turned reality. The company started out as a budget phone on the higher end of the scale. But due to its specs, and powerful performance won over the heart of the public. Slowly the price increased, and so did the customer. Such is the case that OnePlus 7 sold more units than Apple and Samsung. The phone is clearly in the top 3 smartphones sold in India in 2019. Clearly, the elites and upper-middle of India prefer OnePlus over any other phone. It is yet to see if the company taps back to the budget phone.
- Vivo: This is a highly contested place in the market as three big companies are fighting for their share. Vivo, Oppo, and Realme. Although there isn’t much among them but Vivo clearly stands out as it is the most consistent but at least 10% or more share in the market for the past two years. With new smartphones Vivo V15 and V15 Pro, the company has some foothold in the market. However, Realme is on the rise with its flagship Poco very popular among the youth, it is yet to see if it can replace Vivo.
But for now, these are the top 5 most smartphone brands that are ruling the Indian market in 2019.
-Travelrasoi
