Xiaomi maintains lead as India’s smartphone market rebounds

Xiaomi held on to pole position as India’s smartphone market enjoyed a double-digit growth in Q3, according to IDC.

The China smartphone maker shipped 13.5 million units, growing serven percent year on year (YoY). Despite supply challenges, its Redmi 8A Dual, Redmi 8 and Redmi Note 9 were the top three models in India. Sub-brand Poco hit a record more than one million shipments in Q3.

Next was Samsung, the only non-China brand in the top 5, which registered an impressive 38 percent YoY growth with 12.1 million units. Making up the rest of the top five were Vivo, realme and Oppo.

Growth momentum to continue

India was the only market in the top three to enjoy growth in Q3 — China and the US exprerienced declines. In India, a record 54.3 million units were shipped, translating to a 17 percent YoY growth.

“This healthy growth in shipments in Q3 is expected to continue through October and early November during the festive months,” said Navkendar Singh , Research Director of Client Devices & IPDS at IDC India, who expects India to end 2020 with a low single-digit YoY decline after several years of annual growth.

According to Upasana Joshi, Associate Research Manager of Client Devices at IDC India, the low-end and mid-range segment are expected to continue being the volume driver.

“As consumer sentiment improves in the next few quarters, upgrades and affordable 5G offerings in the US$200-500 segment is expected to drive growth,” said Joshi.