- Indian smartphone industry posted a modest annual single-digit growth of 7 percent, a figure similar to 2016, the year of demonetization.
- Samsung shipments, however, stayed nearly flat year-on-year while displaying a 5 percent fall in market share in 2019. Xiaomi’s growth rate in 2019 also declined to one-digit, as Xiaomi now serves a much larger installed base in India, according to the survey.
In the previous year, the Indian smartphone industry posted a modest annual single-digit growth of 7 percent, a figure similar to 2016, the year of demonetization.
“The smartphone market in India has matured because of the availability of better performance devices, with people holding on to their smartphones for longer periods. That is the primary reason for slow growth, “said counterpoint market research analyst Karan Chauhan.
The figure has declined rapidly to 10 percent in 2018 and sequentially to 7 percent in 2019 since 2017, when the market grew rapidly at 13 percent. Because of the ongoing transformation from feature phones to smartphones and the progressive diffusion of key features to the entry-level price tier, as well as the hyper-competition among multiple players, the market intelligence firm expects the growth rate to return to a double-digit number (more than 10 percent) in 2020.
“While the growth rate for the smartphone market hit one digit on an annual basis for the first time, India is underpenetrated compared to many other markets with a 4G penetration rate of around 55 percent for subscribers,” Tarun said.
“The last four years have seen Xiaomi, Vivo, and OnePlus grow 15x, 24x, and 18x respectively. This underscores that OEMs are mature enough to ride the next growth wave and expand their operations in India, “said Anshika Jain, Counterpoint Research Analyst.
Samsung shipments, however, stayed nearly flat year-on-year while displaying a 5 percent fall in market share in 2019. Xiaomi’s growth rate in 2019 also declined to one-digit, as Xiaomi now serves a much larger installed base in India, according to the survey.
Driven by the good performance of its budget segment collection, Vivo grew 76 percent annually in 2019.
“It was also possible to make a dent in the INR 15,000 ($250)-INR 20,000 ($300) segment by effectively pivoting online and aggressively placing the S series in the offline segment with new features. Vivo grabbed the second spot in India’s smartphone market for the first time because of this, “the report added.
In the last quarter of 2019, Apple was one of the fastest-growing brands driven by multiple price cuts on its XR device. Apple has gained share in India during the festive season due to aggressive pricing and channeling strategy, the study said.
