Vivo leads India's smartphone market in Q1; Apple top premium brand
Vivo leads India’s smartphone market in Q1; Apple top premium brand
China’s Vivo emerged as India’s top smartphone brand in the January-March quarter of 2024, displacing Korea’s Samsung, which slipped to third place, even as premiumisation trend picked up the pace.
Vivo cornered a 19 percent share of the market driven by its 5G leadership, while Xiaomi, another Chinese firm, and Samsung came in second and third at 18.8 percent and 17.5 percent share, market research firm Counterpoint Research said in a report released on May 9.
“During the quarter, India’s smartphone market reached its highest ever Q1 value. The growth was driven by the strengthening trend of premiumisation, with consumers upgrading to higher-value smartphones across price tiers,” senior research Analyst Shilpi Jain said.
Key original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are diversifying channel strategy, with a focus on both online and offline channels, the report said.
Samsung, however, maintained leadership in terms of volume share. With a one-fourth share, Samsung led the market in terms of value as its phones are pricier than those of Vivo and Xiaomi.
At $425 (around Rs 34,487) Samsung’s average selling price (ASP) was its highest ever, driven by its leading position in the above Rs 20,000 segment.
A higher ASP means that people are buying pricier phones, which is also called premiumisation.
Apple also had a record quarter in India in terms of value, leading the premium segment in value and volume terms, driven by the latest iPhone 15 series, especially in offline channels.
The iPhone-maker had a 19 percent value market share, down from 22 percent in the same period of 2023.
Xiaomi’s shipments grew 28 percent year-on-year, driven by a leaner and streamlined portfolio and a proactive offline channel strategy. Its value market share grew 4 percentage points to 18 percent in the first quarter, the report said.
Another Chinese phone maker, Oppo, came in fourth with a 10.1 percent volume share, down from 12 percent in 2023. Realme cornered 9.9 percent, an 18 percent growth from last year.
Nothing grew the fastest at 144 percent due to its new mid-segment model Nothing (2a). Motorola’s shipments grew 58 percent, while Transsion grew 20 percent from the year-ago quarter.
Single-digit growth in 2024
India’s smartphone shipments in the January-March period grew 8 percent YoY in terms of volume and 18 percent in value.
Volume growth was primarily driven by healthy inventory levels and the low base of Q1 2023.
The tracker expects India’s smartphone market to grow in single digits in 2024, driven by strong premiumisation, 5G adoption and post-COVID upgrades.
The report said value growth was driven by the ongoing premiumisation trend and new launches such as the Samsung Galaxy S24 and OnePlus 12 series.
The premium segment (above Rs 30,000) reached 20 percent volume share, its highest ever, and 51 percent value share of the overall Indian smartphone market.
More than one-third of mid-tier consumers are willing to upgrade to the premium segment, the report said.
Factors driving the trend include affordable financing schemes, better value for trade-ins, and bundled schemes, along with the demand for top-tier features such as AI, gaming, and imaging enhancements.
Research analyst Shubham Singh said 2024 started on a promising note for OEMs, with better inventory levels allowing them to fill channels with multiple new launches. However, sales were lower than expected due to a drop in retail footfalls and a section of consumers cutting down on discretionary spending.
In Q1 2024, India’s 5G smartphone shipments captured their highest-ever share of 71 percent. MediaTek led India’s smartphone chipset market with a 53 percent share, while Qualcomm was the leader in the premium segment with a 35 percent share.
In the quarter, the offline share reached 64 percent, marking the highest quarterly post-COVID figure, the tracker said.