According to Counterpoint data, the Indian smartphone market reached 158 million shipments in 2019 with a 7 percent growth year on year. This is due to the growth of the middle segment where smartphones from China are aggressively introducing many superior features and capabilities that capture the demand of users who want to upgrade their smartphones. In addition, online channels are a desirable sales platform for introducing smartphone products to be faster on the market. “Although the growth rate for the smartphone market is only one digit for the first time on an annual basis, India is relatively less penetrated compared to many other markets,” said Tarun Pathak, Associate Director of Counterpoint. The 4G penetration in India is around 55 percent. That number is expected to continue to grow in line with the ongoing transition from feature phones to smartphones with the diffusion of features and prices due to intense competition among many players. “We further expect brands to have multi-tiered strategies that involve partnerships in the cellular ecosystem, ranging from hardware, software and services, thus creating opportunities in different segments, such as entertainment, games, financial services, and others,” Pathak said. Commenting on the competitive market landscape, Counterpoint analyst Anshika Jain said that the market share of Chinese brands reached 72 percent in 2019, an increase compared to last year’s 60 percent. “During 2019 we have seen all major Chinese players expand their footprint in offline and online channels to gain market share,” he said.
For example, Xiaomi, Realme, and OnePlus have increased offline sales, while brands such as Vivo have expanded their online reach with the Z and U series. “2019 also marked the fifth anniversary in India for a number of OEMs. Some have seen significant growth from the first year of their operations,” Jain said. “For example, over the past four years, Xiaomi, Vivo and OnePlus have grown 15 times, 24 times and 18 times, respectively. This shows that OEMs are mature enough to catch the next wave of growth and further expand their operations in India,” he added. he.
