CR: India smartphone market rebound continues, Samsung loses ground
Counterpoint Research has released its quarterly analysis of the mobile market in India, one of the biggest markets in the world. The report revealed an 82% yearly increase in shipments and a 14% sequential decline due to the second COVID-19 wave.
Xiaomi retained its leadership with a 28.4% market share, while second placed Samsung lost a lot of ground and accounted for just 17.7% of the sales. Third placed vivo also lost some market share as Realme and Oppo as well as the makers in the "others" group gained significantly.
India is also a huge market for feature phones, and that segment affected the overall sales numbers a lot. The handset business (smartphones + feature phones) grew 74% YoY but declined 28% on a quarterly basis, mostly because the feature phone side saw half the sales, compared with Q1 2021.
The reason is the pandemic resurgence hit the disposable income of consumers in rural areas which are among the top users of such devices.
Xiaomi managed to reach its highest-ever volume in the premium segment between April and June, but it was the Redmi 9 series that moved the most units. The Redmi 9A, Redmi 9 Power and Redmi 9 were all in the Top 5, as well as the Redmi Note 10. Samsung remained the leader in the upper mid-tier segment thanks to the strong performance of the Galaxy A32 and Galaxy A52, while vivo led the INR15,000-INR20,000 price band.
