Xiaomi Still Tops But Samsung Makes A Stunning Comeback In Q2 2020

Samsung is back at number two…and is gunning for number one!

After a period at being number three in the Indian smartphone market, Samsung is not only back at number two but its 4.8 million unit shipment was less than a million units behind Xiaomi, who was number one with 5.4 million shipments. Samsung’s share of 26.3 percent was also within striking range of Xiaomi’s 29.4 percent. The report attributes Samsung’s success to the popularity of the M series in general, which also became available offline, and the M21 in particular, which was one of the highest-selling models of the quarter.

Xiaomi stays on top

Its lead might have been cut, but Xiaomi remains the number one smartphone brand in the Indian market, with a market share of 29.4 percent, which is actually a slight increase from 28.4 percent at the same time last year, although shipments were down. Still, four of the top five phones of the quarter came from Xiaomi – the Redmi 8A Dual, the Redmi Note 8, the Redmi Note 9 Pro, and the Redmi 8. Not surprisingly, Xiaomi continued to do well online, with a 42.3 percent share of the online market.

Not the best of times for the market

As had been highlighted in the Canalys and Counterpoint reports, Q2 2020 was not a good time for Indian smartphone brands. With the market being closed for a significant portion of time due to a lockdown, the total number of units shipped registered a massive 50.6 percent decline as compared to the same period last year. The China-based vendors had a particularly rough time with components and parts remaining at the ports waiting to be cleared. Although sales increased in June, the report says this was more because of pent-up demand from the lockdown period. The report also stated that purchases in this time were “mainly driven by availability rather than by choice.”

Online rises, but all is not rosy

The share of the online market went up by 44.8 percent in this period but declined 39.9 percent year on year due to delivery restrictions during the lockdown. The report says that while offline channel players tried new ways to reach customers including social media apps like WhatsApp and doing doorstep demos and deliveries, and bigger players offered contactless payments, the offline channel declined by a huge 56.8 percent.

Vivo down to third

After having grabbed the second position from Samsung earlier, Q2 2020 saw Vivo slip down to third place with a 17.5 percent market share with 3.2 million units, well behind Samsung. Interestingly, Canalys had placed Vivo second in the market ahead of Samsung. As per IDC, Vivo suffered from stock issues, and while it retained the fourth spot in the online market, it slipped to second in offline. The affordable Y series did very well for it, while online the Z and U series helped in the hold on to its position.

Oppo and Realme face stock issues

There was not much between Realme at fourth place and Oppo at fifth in the Indian market. Both shipped approximately 1.8 million units each, although Realme had a slightly higher market share of 9.8 percent as compared to Oppo’s 9.7 percent. Both phones faced serious stock issues and factory closures. For Realme, the C3 and C2 were stars, accounting for more than a third of the brand’s shipments.

As prices go up, the mid and lower segments rule

The average selling price of a smartphone in India remained unchanged at USD 161. This is believed to be because of the depreciating Rupee and increased GST rates which pushed prices higher. Given the situation in the market following the pandemic, it was hardly surprising that the mid and lower price segments accounted for most units – 84 percent of the units shipped were below USD 200. The sub-USD 100 segment accounted for 29 percent. The USD 200-300 price segment registered a decline of 71 percent year on year while the mid-premium (USD 300-500) segment also faced a 48.4 percent decline, and accounted for just 4.8 percent of the shipments. Not surprisingly, the premium (USD 500 and over segment) also saw a 35.4 percent decline.

Redmi 8A Dual rocks in budget, iPhone 11 and XR dominate premium

The Redmi 8A Dual seems to have been one of the most dominant phones of the year its segment. It accounted for almost 33 percent of all shipments in the sub USD 100 segment. In the mid-premium segment of USD 300-500, the top performers were the Samsung Galaxy A51 and A71, the Vivo V19, the iPhone SE 2020 (which we find interesting because its price is above USD 500 in India) and the OnePlus 7T. In the premium segment (above USD 500), Apple continued to dominate with a 48.8 percent share, followed by Samsung and OnePlus. In phone terms. the iPhone XR and 11 accounted for 28 percent of all shipments in the premium segment.

Others are fading past

A year ago, in Q2 2019 brands outside the top five accounted for 13.9 percent of shipments. In Q2 2020, they dipped to a mere 7.3 percent. And this includes names like Motorola/Lenovo, Asus, OnePlus, Nokia, Huawei/Honor, Infinix, and Lava.