Samsung has finally made a comeback after losing its top position to Xiaomi for the last two quarters in the Indian smartphone market. The company has just managed to surpass Xiaomi in the second quarter of 2018 to regain its top position in India.
According to a report by Counterpoint, Samsung grabbed a market share of 29 per cent in the Q2 2018, while maintaining a 5 per cent year-on-year growth from the Q2 2017. The report highlights that this was possible due to a strong performance of models such as Samsung Galaxy J6, Galaxy J2 2018 and Galaxy J4 in the budget segment. The report highlights that the smartphones contributed more than half of Samsung’s total smartphone shipments in the country.
Xiaomi, on the other hand, has witnessed a drop from 31.1 per cent in Q1 2018 to 28 per cent in Q2 2018. However, the year-on-year growth is impressive as the company captured only 16 per cent market share in Q2 2017. Further, the report mentions that the company has recorded highest ever shipments in India during Q2 2018. Counterpoint says that out of top five selling smartphones in India, Xiaomi had three models in the list with Redmi 5A being the best seller during this quarter. Apart from this, the Chinese company had Redmi Note 5 Pro and Redmi Note 5 in the top five list. The report further adds that demand for Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro remained strong during the quarter.
Vivo grabbed the third position with a market share of 12 per cent, which is lesser than th13 per cent in Q2 2017. Vivo V9 was the most popular smartphone in the V-series, while the V71 was the company’s best seller in the mid-segment, the report adds. Oppo and Honor were at fourth and fifth position capturing a market share of 10 per cent and 3 per cent respectively. OnePlus LED the premium segment for the first time during this quarter with its latest launch, OnePlus 6. Lava is the only local brand that registered positive annual growth during the quarter, driven by entry-level models including its first Android Go device, Z50.
Moving on the feature phone market, Reliance JioPhone was the market leader in the Q2 of 2018 as well. Reliance Jio captured almost half of the total feature phone market in the country with its JioPhone. The company now holds a 47 per cent market share in the feature phone market. Samsung stands in the second position with a 9 per cent market share, while Nokia, Itel and Lava grabbing a market share of 8 per cent, 6 per cent and 5 per cent respectively.