“Samsung grabbed a 36 percent market share in the premium $500+ segment in the country, but its overall market share dipped by 4.8 percent”
Market research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) has released its latest report regarding the state of India’s phone market for the first quarter of 2019. The report says that Samsung has become the number one smartphone maker in the premium segment in India. The South Korean tech giant has surpassed OnePlus and Apple for the leadership position in this segment in Q1 2019 in the country. However, its overall market share has dipped from 25.1 percent in the same quarter last year to 22.3 percent this time around.
According to the report, Samsung has grabbed an overall share of 36 percent in the premium $500+ (~Rs 35,000+) segment in India in the first quarter of this year. The growth was contributed by the newly launched Galaxy S10 series flagships, which was supported by huge marketing campaigns, adds the report. OnePlus took the second place, and its OnePlus 6T smartphone was the top-selling model in the premium segment in Q1 2019.
As for the other players, Xiaomi continued to dominate the overall smartphone market during the period with a total share of 30.6 percent. The company shipped 9.8 million devices, which is a growth of 8.1 percent year-on-year (YoY). Notably, the Chinese phone brands continued to dominate the online sales market with a share of 48.6 percent.
Samsung took second place with a market share of 22.3 percent and shipments of 7.2 million units, down by 4.8 percent YoY. The company’s online market share increased to 13.5 percent thanks to the launch of the brand’s online-exclusive M series phones. The vendor’s new A series handsets helped it to counter the Chinese players in the offline market.
Talking about the third position, Vivo continues to sit on the place with a market share of 13 percent. The company shipped 4.2 million handsets in Q1 2019, which is a growth of 108.4 percent as compared to the same period last year. The brand’s newly launched Vivo Y91 and V15 Pro smartphones contributed the most to its growth.
OPPO recaptured the fourth position in India by grabbing a market share of 7.6 percent and shipping 2.4 million phone units. The company had a YoY growth of 9.7 percent, thanks to the launch of new models such as the OPPO K1, F11, and F11 Pro. Its spin-off brand Realme dropped to fifth position in India with a market share of 6 percent. The company shipped 1.9 million units during the period and its newly launched Realme 3 series account for a bulk of the sales.
Furthermore, the report says that India’s smartphone market grew by 7.1 percent. A total of 32.1 million smartphone units were shipped in the country during the first quarter. Notably, the online sales channels managed to sustain their pace by registering 19.6 percent grown YoY. Lastly, the report mentions that 32.2 million feature phone units were shipped in Q1 2019, registering a decline of 42.4 percent YoY. Notably, there was a sharp decrease of 50 percent YoY on the 4G-enabled feature phones.