Xiaomi Leads Indian Market In Q2 2019: Counterpoint

According to a new report by Counterpoint Research, Xiaomi grabbed the top spot in the second quarter (Q2) of 2019. The company managed to garner with a 28 percent market share, while Samsung slipped to the second sport after ashipments decline ofd by 7 percent YoY.

However, Samsung showed 30 percent growth quarter on quarter (QoQ), driven by refreshed A series and M series smartphones, price cuts on older J series and higher channel incentives during the IPL season, the report said.

China's BBK Group that includes smartphone brands OPPO, Vivo, Realme and OnePlus, became the leading smartphone manufacturer in India for the first time, capturing a combined share of 30 percent, the research firm informed.

Huawei's trade ban impacted India market as its shipments declined year on year (YoY), but, the brand continues to be in the top ten smartphone brands category. The India growth was driven by new launches, price cuts on older devices and channel expansion across brands.

While launching the new report, Tarun Pathak, associate director at the research firm intimated that brands are launching online-exclusive series. and sSimilarly, brands which entered the market with online-exclusive series are now expanding their reach throughtowards the offline channels.

"Brands which focused on offline channels expanded to online channels with online-exclusive series. Similarly, brands which entered the market with online-exclusive series are now expanding their reach towards offline channel by forming partnerships with key offline retailers. This strategy is working well for all the leading at-scale players," he said.

Notably, in the premium segment, OnePlus surpassed Samsung to become the number one player driven by strong demand for its newly launched OnePlus 7 series while Realme, ASUS, OnePlus and Nokia HMD were the fastest growing brands (YoY).

Commenting on the overall smartphone market, Anshika Jain, Research Analyst at Counterpoint Research, said: "The top five brands' contribution to the volume of the total shipment reached its highest ever level, driven by new launches and hybrid channel strategy. Localization, branding and innovation will be the next key drivers of growth in a highly competitive market like India."

Furthermore, the research firm informed that in India, the pricing sweet-spot for consumers has moved to Rs.10,000-20,000 price band and it will remain the biggest contributor in the Indian smartphone segment this year.