Apple rules super premium smartphone market; 81% market share in CY 2021: CMR

For the overall CY 2021, Xiaomi continued to dominate the market with 25 per cent market share followed by Samsung at 18 per cent, realme with 15 per cent, Vivo at fourth spot with 14 per cent and Oppo at 10 per cent.

Irrespective of not being one of the top five vendors in the country, Apple recorded 31 per cent (year-on-year) YoY growth in terms of shipments in CY 2021, resulting it into a stellar year for the company. According to CMR, Apple topped the super premium (Rs 50,000-100,000) segment with 81 per cent market share. Aggressive marketing initiatives and affordability initiatives contributed to its success. Apple’s overall CY2021 revenue was around $5 billion.

Shipping a record 5.4 million units of iPhones in India in the calendar year 2021, and 2.2 million in the festive quarter (Q4) alone, Apple has registered a stellar year last this. While Apple closed CY 2021 with a 4.4 per cent market share of the Indian smartphone market, a significant jump of 2.4 per cent share in CY 2020, Apple is anticipated to capture a 5.5 per cent market share in CY 2022.

For Xiaomi, the Redmi 9A, note 10S and 9 Active were the most popular models. Due to component shortages, Xiaomi’s shipments declined by 11 per cent YoY. However, its 5G shipments grew 76 per cent QoQ owing to launch of its 11 series models. It garnered 24 per cent share in Value for Money handsets (Rs 7,000-Rs 25,000). Its sub-brand Poco recorded a 62 per cent YoY decline in its shipments in Q4 2021. Xiaomi shipped worth $1.7 billion worth of handsets including Poco in Q4 2021.

Samsung, on the other hand, topped the 5G smartphone leaderboard. Almost one-third of all Samsung smartphones shipped in Q4 2021 were 5G-capable. Samsung Galaxy M02, Galaxy A12 and Galaxy A52s 5G accounted for 35 per cent of its shipments. Samsung toppled OnePlus in the premium smartphones (Rs 25,000-50,000) segment. Samsung’s third-generation foldable phones, Galaxy Z Fold3 and Galaxy Z Flip3 performed well during Q4 2021, with 100,000 foldables shipped during Q4 2021, contributing to 8 per cent of its smartphone revenue. Samsung shipped worth $2 billion worth of smartphones in Q4 2021.

The realme C11(2021) and realme C21Y were the top selling models and accounted for most of realme’s market share. Amidst the prevailing supply constraints, realme did well in terms of inventory management. During the festive period, it diversified into UNISOC chipsets in the affordable smartphone segment. It shipped around $1.1 billion worth of handsets in Q4 2021. In Q4 2021, Vivo’s growth was driven by the Vivo Y12 series and vivo Y20T. Vivo’s Y72, V21 and V21e models accounted for the bulk of its 5G shipments. The Vivo Y72 was the most shipped Value for Money (Rs 7,000-25,000) 5G smartphone. The OPPO A16 and A54 series were highest shipped models, contributing to OPPO’s position.

Looking beyond the top five, OnePlus shipments witnessed 9 per cent YoY decline owing to enhanced competition in the premium smartphone segment. OnePlus Nord 2 accounted for 40 per cent of OnePlus’s market share and was the top selling overall model in the Premium segment (Rs 25,000-50,000). The OnePlus Nord series accounted for 70 per cent of OnePlus market share.

“Smartphone continues to be an essential life driver. This is clearly reflected in the robust growth in the India smartphone market amidst the second pandemic wave, and despite component shortages. 5G played a key role in this overall growth with its contribution increasing to 17 per cent in CY2021. 5G shipments increased significantly (43 per cent) in the value for money (Rs 7,000 – Rs 24,999) smartphone segment,” says Shipra Sinha, Analyst-Industry Intelligence Group, CMR.

Growing 11 per cent year-on-year, smartphone shipments touched an all-time high of 166 million units by the end of CY2021. According to the latest India Mobile Handset Market Review Report for Q4 2021 released by Cybermedia Research today, the Indian smartphone revenue touched $37 billion in CY2021. While 5G smartphone shipments grew 600 per cent year-on-year, one in every eight smartphone shipped was a premium device.