Vivo Tops Offline Sales, Samsung Leads Online: A Look at India's Smartphone Channels

India's smartphone market is showing signs of slowdown. According to a latest report from IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, smartphone shipments in India dropped by 5.5% year-over-year (YoY) in the first quarter of 2025. This marks the second straight quarter of falling shipments. The main reasons are weak consumer demand and leftover stock from the previous quarter.

However, amid the overall downturn, the offline market witnessed notable growth, and Apple stood out with the highest YoY growth among the top five brands, recording a 23% increase in shipments.

Offline Sales Grow, Online Sales Shrink

The offline market showed positive signs. Shipments through offline channels grew by 10% YoY and now make up 58.1% of the total market. On the other hand, online sales fell by 21.1%, dropping the online market share to 41.9%, the lowest since the third quarter of 2019.

Vivo Leads in Offline Market

Vivo was the top brand in offline sales, followed by OPPO and Samsung. Vivo's V series, known for its camera features, helped it attract customers. Its T series also performed well, and some models from the Y series are made specifically for offline sales. These product strategies helped Vivo secure its top position in offline markets.

Samsung Tops Online Market

In the online space, Samsung took the lead, followed by Motorola in second place and Realme in third. Samsung's success came from a mix of flagship devices and mid-range phones from its M, A, and F series.

Motorola gained popularity with its Edge series, while Realme jumped to the fourth position, pushing Xiaomi down to fifth. This was driven by Realme's affordable new phones in the 14 series, Narzo 80 series, and P3 series. These models helped each brand grow its share in the online market, even as overall online sales declined.

Apple Records Highest Growth

Despite the overall decline, Apple showed strong performance. It recorded the highest YoY growth, with a 23% increase in shipments. Apple shipped a record 3 million units in Q1 2025, the most ever for a first quarter in India. The iPhone 16 was the most shipped model, making up 4% of the total smartphone shipments in the country.

5G Smartphones Grow

In Q1 2025, India saw shipments of 29 million 5G smartphones. The share of 5G phones increased to 88%, up from 69% in Q1 2024. At the same time, average selling prices (ASPs) fell by 11% YoY to $300.

Low-cost 5G phones (under $100) made up 7% of shipments, while 45% of the market was in the $100-$200 range. Popular 5G models included Apple iPhone 16, Xiaomi Redmi 14C, OPPO K12x/A3x, and realme 14x.

Qualcomm Leads

Qualcomm saw a strong 40.8% YoY growth in shipments, with a market share of 31.8%. This was led by budget phones like the Redmi 14C. In contrast, MediaTek's share dropped from 55.3% to 43.6% due to a 25.5% fall in shipments.

While overall shipments are slowing down, offline sales are growing, which highlights that consumers still prefer to buy smartphones in physical stores, especially in smaller towns and cities.

Via