After being overtaken as the leading smartphone company in India, Samsung has finally managed to strike the right chords and is aiming towards regaining its long lost position in the Indian smartphone market. In Q2 2018, Samsung recorded a massive 47% YoY growth in smartphone shipments in India after almost 2.5 years. The Korean giant is back with a bang after the humiliating loss to the ‘underdogs’ Xiaomi and registering decline in smartphone shipment in Q4 2017.
Xiaomi vs Samsung: It’s Neck to Neck
For a company who has been in the mobile business for decades, responsible for the death of the invincible Nokia, dominating the subcontinent smartphone market completely; it was only natural to take the almost nascent Xiaomi not so seriously. Until, of course, the Xiaomi bombarded the Indian as well as the global markets with its flagship phones. Registering a record 155% YoY growth in Q1 2018 in the smartphone shipment in India, the Chinese giant proved that it was no ‘underdog’.
Since Q4 2015, it was the first time when Samsung clocked 47% YoY growth in smartphone shipment in Q2 2018, according to the latest Canalys report. On the other hand, Xiaomi almost doubled its shipment.
Samsung and Xiaomi each shipped 9.9 million smartphones in India. Overall, the smartphone shipments in India increased by 22% YoY, to 32.6 million units in Q2 2018.
Once again Xiaomi leads the pack in terms of top-selling smartphone model in India; The Chinese smartphone OEM shipped whopping 3.3 million units of Redmi 5A, against 2.3 million unit shipment of Samsung’s top-selling smartphone model J2 Pro.
Smartphone Shipments In India Q2 2018: Samsung Is Regaining Lost Ground
Even though the Xiaomi had the upper hand in the last quarter in the smartphone shipment in the Indian sub-continent, the lead is almost negligible. After tasting defeat post-2015 in the smartphone business, Samsung has worked hard to regain its lost glory, and, though it is a bit early to comment, might also succeed in the near future.
Together, Samsung and Xiaomi dominate by accounting almost over 60% of the India smartphone market followed by other manufacturers such as Oppo and Vivo. It is, however, praiseworthy on part of the small vendors that they continue to make efforts despite the domination of giants in the business.
“Samsung is hitting back,” says TuanAnh Nguyen – an Analyst at Canalys . “It has launched devices pitted directly against Xiaomi’s portfolio and is focusing on its cameras and imaging capabilities with Portrait Dolly and Background Blur Shape functions,” he added.
The performance of Samsung in Q2 2018 clearly indicates its strong comeback in the market. The growth is only an indicator of the upcoming fiery strategies and products that are going to be introduced by the Korean smartphone giant to regain its long-lost title, in the upcoming quarters of the years. Also, Samsung would sure aim at not repeating the mistakes by taking the local sub-continent smartphone vendors very lightly.
As Canalys Research Manager Rushabh Doshi said. “Samsung and Xiaomi often distract from the opportunities that India has to offer smaller and leaner smart phone vendors looking for additional business opportunities. The climate is right for businesses to realign and re-enter the market.”
