Xiaomi leads Indian market in Q1 2019, despite 2% decline in shipments

Xiaomi remained the smartphone market leader in Q1 2019 with a 29 percent market share, though its shipments declined by 2 percent YoY, according to Counterpoint's "Market Monitor" service report.

"Xiaomi remains the market leader driven by new product launches. However, it faced strong market competition as compared to a year ago, "Anshika Jain, Research Analyst at Counterpoint Research said.

Samsung's A-series shipments surpassed two million units. The newly launched online-only M series started well too, but it will need a strong follow-up device to continue its momentum on the online platforms. Samsung's recorded a strong sell-in of premium Galaxy S10 series which drove overall ASP for Samsung.

The report also reveals that Chinese brands also dominated the top 5 best-selling list. Xiaomi Redmi 6A remained the top model following multiple price cuts followed by Xiaomi Note 6 Pro, Redmi Y2, Samsung Galaxy M20, and Galaxy A50. The top 10 models contributed to 35 percent of overall smartphone shipments.

Meanwhile, Vivo's volume grew 119 percent YoY, OPPO grew 28 percent YoY. Vivo's expanding portfolio in the mid-tier (Rs.7,000 - Rs14,000 or roughly $100-$180) drove its growth along with aggressive IPL campaign around flagship V series.

OPPO, on the other hand, focused on expanding its portfolio in the less crowded Rs.15,000 - Rs.25,000 (roughly $210-$350) segment.

Tarun Pathak, Associate Director, said, "India's smartphone market continues to attract a lot of attention from Global and Chinese players. Data consumption is on the rise and users are upgrading their phones faster as compared to other regions. This has led to users spending more on their purchase which is driving up the overall average selling price (ASP) in the market."

Pathak said, "As a result of this, the premium specs are now diffusing faster into the mid-tier price brands. We estimate this trend to continue leading to a competitive mid-tier segment in coming quarters."