Driven by online sale festivals, new model launches, and price corrections on a few key models by various brands, the Indian smartphone market shipped a record 46.6 million units in the third quarter of 2019 – an increase of 26.5 per cent quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) and 9.3 per cent year-over-year (YoY) growth.
China’s Xiaomi recorded its highest ever smartphone shipments in a quarter with 12.6 million units, growing at 8.5 per cent YoY. The Redmi 7A and Redmi Note 7 Pro were the highest shipped models in the overall smartphone market. Xiaomi continued to lead in the online channel with a market share of 40 per cent in the third quarter of 2019, with four out of the five top models from Xiaomi.
South Korean giant Samsung was the only vendor among the top five to fall, dropping 8.5 per cent YoY in 3Q19 owing to the lag between older Galaxy A series (Galaxy A10, 50, etc.) and the refreshed Galaxy As (Galaxy A10s, A50s etc.) series just before the Diwali quarter. However, the newly launched Galaxy M30s has registered strong shipments in its opening quarter.
‘The continued aggression by the online platforms with attractive cashback and buyback offers as well as affordability schemes like No Cost EMIs and financing options were key in taking the share of the online channel to a record high of 45.4 per cent with YoY growth of 28.3 per cent,’ said Upasana Joshi, Associate Research Manager, Client Devices, IDC India.
The offline channel continued to face challenges, leading to a 2.6 per cent YoY decline in 3Q19. While the low-end price segment of $200 still accounted for 80 per cent of the overall India smartphone market in 3Q19, its share dropped by five percentage points YoY at the cost of the mid-range segment of $200-$500, gaining six percentage points to 18.9 per cent in 3Q19.
According to IDC, the fastest growing segment in 3Q19 was $300-500 with double the shipments YoY – driven by the OnePlus 7, the Redmi K20 Pro and the Vivo V15 Pro. The $200-300 was the second fastest growing segment with 47.8 per cent YoY growth in 3Q19 – driven by high shipments of the Galaxy A50, the Redmi Note 7 Pro and the Vivo Z1 Pro.
Thanks to the offers and price drops on the iPhone XR, iPhone 8 and iPhone 7 (128GB), along with the newly launched iPhone 11/Pro series, Apple continued to dominate the premium market with a market share of 51.3 per cent in 3Q19.
Vivo registered a strong YoY growth of 58.7 per cent in 3Q19, driven by affordable Y series (Y12, Y91/i). The newly-launched exclusive online Z/U series accounted for over 20 per cent of its overall shipments, making vivo the third largest online vendor with a market share of 8.2 per cent in 3Q19.
Realme climbed to the fourth position in 3Q19, as its shipments grew multi-fold YoY in 3Q19, driven by strong shipments of its affordable C2 model and its newly launched 5 and 3i series. The vendor’s online share was at an all-time high of 26.5 per cent in 3Q19, up from 16.5 per cent in the previous quarter.
Oppo slipped to the fifth position in 3Q19, but with a YoY growth of 92.3 per cent. Its A5s was the fifth-highest shipped model in the overall smartphone market.
