Andrew Bonwick
Vice President of Product Development at Relm Insurance
Madhav Sheth
CEO of Ai+ Smartphone
Stephen Rose
CEO Render Networks

Chinese handset maker Xiaomi grabbed the top spot in the second quarter (Q2) of 2019 with a 28% share as smartphone shipments in India grew to 37 million units, setting a second-quarter shipment record, a new report by Counterpoint Research said on Thursday. China’s BBK Group that includes smartphone brands Oppo, Vivo, Realme and OnePlus became the leading smartphone manufacturer in India for the first time ever, capturing a combined share of 30%, according to Counterpoint’s “Market Monitor service” report.

Samsung’s shipments declined by 7% YoY, but, it has shown 30% growth QoQ driven by refreshed A series and M series. Huawei’s trade ban impacted India market as its shipments declined year on year (YoY), but, the brand continues to be in the top ten smartphone brands category. The India growth was driven by new launches, price cuts on older devices and channel expansion across brands.
“Brands which focused on offline channels expanded to online channels with online-exclusive series. Similarly, brands which entered the market with online-exclusive series are now expanding their reach towards offline channel by forming partnerships with key offline retailers. This strategy is working well for all the leading at-scale players,” Tarun Pathak, Associate Director, Counterpoint Research, said in a statement.
“Also, brands are launching multiple series to target or expand into new product tiers. This is helping them to expand their product portfolio to target multiple fast-growing segments and also diversify.”
In the premium segment, OnePlus surpassed Samsung to become the number one player driven by strong demand for its newly launched OnePlus 7 series while Realme, Asus, OnePlus and Nokia HMD were the fastest growing brands (YoY).