Samsung, which once led India’s smartphone market, fell into third place in the quarter that ended in December, even as the South Korean giant continues to make big bets on the still-growing rare handset sector. According to research firm Counterpoint, 158 million smartphones shipped in India in 2019 up from 145 million the year before.
Vivo, a Chinese company, surpassed Samsung in Q4 2019 to become India’s second-largest smartphone vendor. Xiaomi, with command over 27% of the market, maintained its top spot in the nation for the tenth consecutive quarter.
In 2019, Vivo’s annual smartphone shipment increased by 76 per cent. The aggressive positioning of the Chinese company’s budget S series of smartphones— priced from $100 to $150 (the sweet spot in India)—in the brick and mortar segment and acceptance of e-commerce sales helped it beat Samsung, Counterpoint analysts said.
Vivo’s market share jumped 132% between Q4 of 2018 and Q4 of 2019, according to the research firm.
Realme, who spun out of Chinese smartphone manufacturer Oppo, took the fifth place. Oppo took fourth position.
Samsung has dramatically lowered some of its handsets prices in the country and also introduced smartphones with local features, but is struggling to compete with an army of Chinese smartphone manufacturers. The firm has not responded to a request for comment.
Realme took Indian market by storm. The two-year-old firm has reproduced the country’s strategy for Xiaomi and has so far concentrated on aggressively low-cost Android smartphones being sold online.
Vivo and Oppo, on the other hand, have spread over the years to smaller towns and cities in the region, and have inked deals.
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Robert Haba is the founder and editor-in-chief of Droid Tools. A lifelong gadget enthusiast with over a decade following the Android ecosystem, he built this publication to cut through the noise and give readers honest, real-world coverage of the tech they actually use.
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