Samsung topples Xiaomi to regain No. 1 position in smartphone

Samsung has toppled Xiaomi in the smartphone category to regain its No. 1 position in India in Q2 2018.

According to the latest research from Counterpoint’s Market Monitor service, the smartphone market returned to 18% YoY after flat first quarter growth. The feature phone market continues to outpace the smartphone market with a YoY growth of 21%.

Commenting on the findings, Anshika Jain, Research Analyst said, “India’s smartphone market returned to double digit growth during the quarter and is likely to grow in double digits for the entire year. Growth during the quarter was driven by new launches and strong promotions across both online and offline channels. Smartphone brands leveraged the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 season, as they timed their new launches and campaigns around the same with a slew of offers across multiple channels.”

Q2 2018 Mobile Market Snapshot:

• Smartphone segment contribute half of the total handset market during Q2 2018.
• Top five brands captured a record 82% share
• Reliance Jio captured almost half of the total feature phone market driven by Jiophone success
• Samsung regained its lead in smartphone with 29% market share
• Xiaomi share in the offline channel has increased as it pivots to a multi-channel strategy in India
• Vivo shipments increased sequentially driven by new launches, celebrity endorsement and aggressive campaign around IPL 2018

“As volume-share of the top five players combined exceeded 80%, local and smaller players were forced to change their strategies, which involved changing channels and product strategy along with cutting the number of SKUs. Additionally, the increase in duties for handset components announced during the beginning of the quarter, forced smaller players to delay product launches as they didn’t have the necessary operations to save on the increased tariffs for certain components, like populated printed circuit boards, mechanics and others,” added Jain.

Commenting on the brand performance, Karn Chauhan, Research Analyst said, “Samsung has regained the leading position after ceding it to Xiaomi two quarters ago. The success of Samsung during the quarter can be attributed to its refreshed J-series; it launched the more models than any other brand, across multiple price points, during the quarter. These new launches brought some of the most popular and sought-after features like, dual camera, infinity display, and facial unlock to different price segments for Samsung for the first time ever.”

“Additionally, the strong offline distribution and aggressive marketing campaign around its J-series helped Samsung to gain not only market share but also mind share, during the quarter. 2H 2018 is likely to be a close race between Samsung and Xiaomi — especially during the upcoming festive season,” added Chauhan.