Xiaomi did it again. The Chinese handset vendor sold the maximum number of smartphones in India in the fourth quarter of 2017. As per Cybermedia Research, Xiaomi had 25 percent market share in the fourth quarter of 2017 against 23 percent share of Samsung.
In feature phone segment too, Samsung was outsmarted by LYF which emerged as the market leader with 27% market share, followed by Samsung with 14% market share.
However, Samsung remained the leader for 2017 with 21% market share, followed by iTel, and Xiaomi with 9% market share each.The research also sounded alarm bells for HTC, Asus and Gionee.
“2017 was remarkable with certain pioneering mobile handset brands like HTC, Asus and Gionee, among others, seeing worrisome warning signals, while a new breed of exciting handset brands, like Comio and NUU Mobile, among others, came to the fore. We believe this trend will deepen further in 2018,” said Prabhu Ram, Head – Industry Intelligence Group (IIG), CMR.
According to the research, the smartphone market recorded a 19% sequential decline in 4Q 2017, with 30 million units shipped. The feature phone market, on the other hand, witnessed a 36% sequential growth in 4Q 2017, and YoY growth of 62%.
As per the research, this year will continue to witness the growth of entry-level smartphones which will largely cater to first-time smartphone buyers. “Aggressive, pre-paid 4G entry-level plans launched by telcos in 1Q 2018 will further accelerate the adoption of 4G,” it further added.