South Korean multinational brand Samsung recently regained its top spot in the Indian market by securing a market share of 29% in the April to June quarter of 2018, outperforming its Chinese rival Xiaomi which managed to accumulate a market share of 28%, as per a report published by Counterpoint research.
Vivo and Oppo followed close, securing third and fourth positions with market shares of 12% and 10% respectively, while Huawei, owing to its sub brand Honor managed to secure fifth position with a market share of 3%.
Surprisingly, Apple had a market share of just 1%, the lowest it’s been in recent history. According to the report, this could be due to changes in its distribution strategy, and its domestic assembly not taking off as expected. OnePlus also got a special mention, due to the OnePlus 6 being the best-selling phone in the premium segment, making it the leader of the whole quarter, surpassing Samsung and Apple for the first time ever in the premium category.
Samsung’s success in the second quarter can be attributed to its refreshed J-series – having launched more models than any other brand, all under different price tags. The brand also brought some of the most popular and sought after features such as dual cameras, infinity display, and face unlock to phones under different price segments, giving Samsung a competitive edge over majority of the other smartphones available in the market today. Apart from that, it has also invested heavily in aggressive marketing campaigns and offline distribution.
The report also states that Xiaomi recorded its highest ever shipments in India during the second quarter, owing to its “strong product and supply chain strategy”. Xiaomi typically launches products which have a long-lasting shelf life, much more than its competitors. Xiaomi has also realised the power of selling phones at a cheaper rate during flash sales in a country like India, where everyone looks for affordable yet sustainable phone options.
One of the most interesting observations made in the report, however, was that while after the first quarter of 2018 the smartphone market returned to double digit growth (18%), the feature phone market continued to outpace the smartphone market with a growth of 21%. Reliance Jio headed the feature phone market, capturing almost half of the feature phone market due to the success of its new JioPhone.