This is what Canalys Research Analyst Ishan Dutt had to say “This growth comes as a relief to the smartphone industry. Doubts about India’s market potential are clearly dispelled by this result.” He further added that “There are close to 100 mobile device brands sold in India, with more vendors arriving every quarter. In addition, India has one of the most complex channel landscapes, but with low barriers to entry. Growth will continue. Low smartphone penetration and the explosion of LTE are the main drivers.”
The Top Brands
As always, the Canalys report also mentions the top brands with respect the smartphone shipping figures. Samsung is still ruling the roost after shipping a whopping 9.4 million units in Q3 2017. Interestingly, Xiaomi is in the second position and is playing a quick catch up with Samsung. Xiaomi has registered a shipment of 9.2-million smartphones, a figure that falls shy of only 0.2-million. Vivo is in the third place with shipments pegged at 4-million. Oppo and Lenovo are placed fourth and fifth respectively.
The Growth Story
The Year-on-Year growth is an important metric to gauge the increase in the smartphone sale and the overall growth as a brand. Samsung’s shipment has registered an impressive 30% increase from the Q3 2016 while the Xiaomi seems to be the clear winner as it has registered a mind-boggling 290% increase in smartphone shipments. Xiaomi has been pretty aggressive this year and unlike before the time gap between the Chinese launch and the Indian launch of a device has also shrunk considerably (for instance the Mi Mix 2.) Xiaomi also has an upper hand when it comes to devices in the sub Rs 10k range. The company has also been involved in active marketing and diversification in its retail.
Enter Apple
Apple has been striving hard to make a mark in the Indian market. The company has begun its productions in India and seems to be betting big on devices like the iPhone 6 which lower the price barrier. The iPhone shipments in India have doubled to 900,000 in Q3 2017 as compared to the Q3 2016 and this is pretty impressive since India is always considered to be a tough market for premium smartphones.
