There's no doubt that both Oppo and Vivo are going through a bad phase since their entry into the Indian market. Both the companies are launching new phones in tandem, but nothing seems to be going well for them at the moment. According to the International Data Corporation’s (IDC) Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, mobile phone shipments of Oppo dropped almost by half, and Vivo saw a 41% decline from the previous quarter. However, both the companies managed to stay in the top five list with Vivo securing a market share of 6.5% and Oppo with 4.9% share in the Q4 2017.
Xiaomi replaced Samsung for the leadership position in the Q4 2017. Xiaomi tripled its shipments year-over-year and sold more than 2 million units from its offline channel. In continuation of its offline expansion through Mi stores and preferred partners, Xiaomi appointed its first product endorser and is now very aggressive in above the line marketing, which helped the brand to gain traction in the offline channel.
Samsung slipped to 2nd position in smartphone ranking in the last quarter of the year but leads in the overall year. Despite growing 13% year-over-year in Q4 2017, it faced challenges in competing with the aggressive pricing strategy of Xiaomi in India. "However, the channel trust remains strong on brand, and Samsung's distribution strength remains strong too, even as other vendors approach retailers and channel partners with lucrative offers," said IDC in the report.
Chinese brand Vivo managed to get back to the third position even after dropping to 4th in the last quarter. However, the company' shipments saw a 41% decline as stated earlier. And to extend the presence, Vivo launched its maiden experience center in India.
Lenovo (including Motorola) slipped to the fourth position as its shipments declined sequentially and annually in the Q4 2017. Lastly, Oppo maintained its position even after the shipments fell by 50%.
During the quarter, Xiaomi secured marker share of 26.8%, closely followed by Samsung with 24.2% share. Vivo is third on the list with 6.5%, Lenovo stands on the fourth position at 5.6%, and Oppo is in the fifth position with 4.9%.
