- Xiaomi recorded highest ever smartphone shipments, Realme jumped to fourth place
- These results were published by IDC with respect to the smartphones market in India
According to a report by International Data Corporation’s (IDC) Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, India’s smartphone market shipped a record 46.6 million units in the third quarter of 2019, with 26.5 per cent quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) and 9.3 per cent year-over-year (YoY) growth. This was driven by multiple online sale festivals, new model launches, and price corrections on a few key models by various brands.
“The continued aggression by the online platforms with attractive cashback and buyback offers as well as affordability schemes like No Cost EMIs and financing options were key in taking the share of the online channel to a record high of 45.4% with YoY growth of 28.3%,” said Upasana Joshi, associate research manager, Client Devices, IDC India.
The offline channel saw 2.6 per cent YoY decline in 3Q19. The report highlighted that the offline players fell short of the attractive deals that a consumer could grab in the online space and were still dealing with leftover inventory from previous quarters. Consumer inquiries and footfall were relatively slow at the retail counters through September, compared to the previous years.
In the premium segment, Apple continued to dominate with a market share of 51.3 per cent in 3Q19, on the back of affordability offers and price drops on previous-generation models like the iPhone XR, iPhone 8 and iPhone 7 (128GB), along with the newly launched iPhone 11/Pro series.
The feature phone market registered a 17.5 per cent YoY decline with shipments of 35.6 million units during the quarter. 4G-enabled feature phones declined 20.3 per cent YoY due to heavy inventory in the channel.
Xiaomi recorded its highest ever smartphone shipments
The report highlighted that Xiaomi recorded its highest ever smartphone shipments with 12.6 million units, growing at 8.5 per cent YoY. The Redmi 7A and Redmi Note 7 Pro were the highest shipped models in the overall smartphone market. The company continued to lead in the online channel with a market share of 40.0 per cent in 3Q19, with four out of the five top models from Xiaomi.
Samsung was the only vendor amongst the top five to fall, dropping 8.5 per cent YoY in 3Q19. The report stated that the lag between the older Galaxy A series (Galaxy A10, 50, etc.) and the refreshed Galaxy As (Galaxy A10s, A50s, etc.) series just before the Diwali quarter led to this sharp decline. However, newly launched Galaxy M30s registered strong shipments in its opening quarter.
Vivo registered a YoY growth of 58.7 per cent in 3Q19 on the back of its affordable Y series (Y12, Y91/i) The newly-launched exclusive online Z/U series accounted for more than 20 per cent of its overall shipments, making Vivo the third-largest online vendor with a market share of 8.2 per cent in 3Q19.
Realme shipments grew multifold YoY in 3Q19, driven by heavy shipments of its affordable C2 model and its newly launched 5 and 3i series. The vendor’s online share was at an all-time high of 26.5 per cent in 3Q19, up from 16.5 per cent in the previous quarter.
OPPO slipped to the fifth position in 3Q19, but with a YoY growth of 92.3 per cent. Its A5s was the fifth-highest shipped model in the overall smartphone market.
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