According to the latest report by Counterpoint Research for the third quarter of 2020, India’s smartphone shipments grew 9% year-on-year to reach over 53 million units. This is the highest-ever shipment in a quarter for the Indian smartphone market.
The Indian smartphone market is on a recovery path because of the pent-up demand due to the lockdown necessitated by the pandemic. Also, due to the pandemic, consumers have ended up saving on leisure activities and these savings are now being funneled into smartphone purchases.
Shilpi Jain, a Research Analyst at Counterpoint Research, commented that while some anti-China consumer sentiments impacted sales of brands originating from China early on - there was a military confrontation between the two countries a few months ago - these sentiments have now subsided.
For the first time after two years, Samsung has once again become the leading brand in the India smartphone market with a 32% YoY growth. Samsung has improved its supply chain, offered a broader portfolio touching various price points, and had an aggressive push in online channels. Xiaomi slipped to the number two position for the first time since Q3 2018 with a 4% YoY decline, mostly because of the manufacturing constraints due to the COVID-19 situation. It remained the top online brand though.
Both vivo and realme grew 4% YoY. The latter also retained its leadership position on Flipkart, the online store that sells the most smartphones in India. Transsion Group brands - Itel, Infinix, and Tecno - regained their market share registering 73% YoY growth and remained strong in Tier 3 and Tier 4 cities as well as rural India.
The overall Indian mobile handset market on the other hand grew 8% YoY in Q3 2020. The handset market constitutes smartphones and feature phones. The feature phone market registered a 5% YoY growth in Q3 2020 with Itel being the number one brand followed by Samsung and Lava.
Source: Counterpoint Research