The research firm IDC (International Data Corporation) has reported that there was a 12% year-on-year decline in the smartphone market in India during the third quarter of this year that ended in September. During the period, 48 million units of smartphones were shipped. Notably, this is significant as the market registered growth in the last four quarters on a consecutive basis. Also, it notes that Xiaomi registered a decline in the overall shipments in the country. However, the company also secured the maximum market share.
Despite taking this overall decline of 12% in the smartphone shipments, India was the third-largest 5G smartphone market in the world, accounting for a shipment of 7%. It noted that from January to September this year, nearly 7 million 5G smartphones were shipped to the Indian market.
New Smartphone Market Trends In India
The research firm went on to note that the decline in smartphone shipments in the third quarter is attributed to component shortages. As compared to the third quarter of last year, this year saw a 12% decline to 48 million units of smartphone shipments, which was 54.2 million in 2020. In a quarter-over-quarter comparison, the Indian market witnessed 34 million units of shipments in Q2 and 48 million units in the third quarter of this year. Eventually, there was a 47% growth in the shipments on this basis.
What’s interesting is that though Xiaomi continues to lead the market, its shipments dropped by 17% year-over-year. However, its sub-brand Poco witnessed a 65% growth in shipments as compared to the same period last year. In the second spot, there was Samsung with a decline of 33% year-on-year. Then, we have Vivo in the third spot with a decline in the shipment of 13%. The fourth and fifth positions were occupied by Realme and Oppo.
It is claimed that the key trends for the third quarter included a record-high share that was gained by online channels and a 5% year-on-year drop in the shipment volume. Also, the offline channels witnessed an 18% shipment decline on a yearly basis. Besides these, the country witnessed 10 million units of shipments with an average selling price of $401 (approx. Rs 29,800) in the third quarter.
