Samsung drops to fourth spot in Indian smartphone market

Samsung India Electronics Pvt. Ltd. fell two places to rank fourth among smartphone companies in India on the back of lower growth in the June quarter of this calendar year. While Chinese phone maker Xiaomi retained its lead, Realme and Vivo were ranked the second and third-highest brands in terms of smartphone shipments in India, respectively.  

According to experts, this could be the first time that Samsung has fallen to the fourth place in the Indian smartphone pecking order, after having momentarily fallen to third behind China-based BBK Electronics brand, Vivo, in the December quarter (Q4) of 2019.

Samsung’s shipment growth is in line with the overall growth of the Indian smartphone industry, which grew 2.9% YoY from 33.8 million units shipped in Q2 last year, to 34.7 million units this year. However, Realme and Vivo saw their shipments rise 23.7% and 17.4% respectively, which has led to Samsung's fall in ranking in the Indian smartphone market.

Samsung India was yet to respond on this development at the time of going to press.

The decline in its ranking ironically comes at a time when the electronics company saw a 2.7% year-on-year (YoY) rise in its smartphone shipments in the country, according to data from market research firm IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phones Tracker. Its year-on-year shipments rose from 5.5 million devices shipped in Q2 (June quarter) last year to 5.7 million.

Samsung had long been the top smartphone brand in India, prior to losing its top spot to Xiaomi in Q4 2017, according to industry figures from market research firms Counterpoint and Canalys. Since then, Xiaomi has held on to its top spot in India, even though its shipments have taken a hit of late. As of the June quarter this year, Xiaomi’s shipments declined by 28.2% YoY, IDC’s report for the quarter said.

That said, Navkendar Singh, associate vice-president of devices research at IDC India, said that Samsung has seen its average selling price (ASP) for smartphones rise in India, despite its falling market share. Samsung’s ASP of close to Rs 20,000 (it was Rs18,400 in the June quarter of last calendar year) is the highest among India’s top five smartphone sellers, the IDC report said.

IDC’s Q2 report also added that despite a sluggish overall market, the premium smartphones market of devices priced above Rs 40,000 in India saw annual growth of 83%. While Apple dominates this market segment in India with 53% of all devices priced above Rs 40,000, OnePlus and Samsung rank second and third in the market, with 19% and 15% market share in this segment respectively.

Global inflation pressures leading to a drop in discretionary consumer spending has caused demand for smartphones fall in India. According to industry analysts, shipments in the Indian smartphone market have continued to drop — registering a 5% sequential decline in the June quarter as well. However, experts also believe that with the advent of 5G services in India, OEMs may see shipments revive in the country, if telecom operators roll out competitive 5G pricing for consumers.

Samsung, incidentally, leads 5G device shipments in India. According to IDC’s report, 46% of all Samsung devices shipped to India are 5G-compatible smartphones. Singh said that nearly a quarter of all 5G phones shipped to India in the June quarter were Samsung's.