Xiaomi led online platforms with a share of 57 % in Q1 2018: Counterpoint

According to the latest research from Counterpoint's Market Monitor service, Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi led online platforms with a share of 57 percent during Q1 2018, followed by Samsung (14 percent) and Huawei (Honor) (8 percent).

The report said: "E-commerce channels captured a record 38 percent share of the total smartphone channels during Q1 2018, driven by exclusive online launches and strong promotions during the latter part of the quarter."

"The E-commerce segment grew faster than the offline segment during Q1 2018. While the smartphone shipments in the offline segment declined by 3 percent, the online segment grew by 4 percent YoY," Karn Chauhan, Research Analyst at Counterpoint Research said. Adding that this is driven by the increase in the number of models launching on online platforms coupled with aggressive offers.

The research agency said Flipkart maintained its dominance in the online smartphone market with 54 percent share while Amazon held second place with 30 percent followed by Mi.com with 14 percent share.

It said entry-level and premium are the fastest growing segments in the online smartphone market. Entry level shipments were driven by Xiaomi while premium was driven by OnePlus.

While top five smartphones contributed to close to half of the smartphone shipments through online channels.

Tarun Pathak, Associate Director at Counterpoint Research said, "India still has one of the lowest percentages of users who are connected to the internet and shop online. This trend is changing rapidly as 4G data consumption has increased and more users beyond metro cities are geared up to browse and shop online.

Hence, in an effort to target first-time shoppers, both Flipkart and Amazon have scaled up their operations in recent quarters, especially in the smartphone segment which is a major value driving category for these platforms.