Samsung Electronics is now disputing a Canalys report which put China’s Xiaomi ahead of the South Korean company in India. The Chinese smartphone maker allegedly toppled Samsung to become India’s top-selling smartphone company as per the new data from Canalys. Samsung, however, rubbished the Canalys report claiming that it still leads the smartphone market share in India. The company cited data by German research firm GfK, which says Samsung has 45% of the value market share and 40% of the volume share.
In its official statement, Samsung said, “Samsung is India’s number 1 smartphone company by a distance. As per a German research company GfK, which tracks sales to end consumers in the last (November) quarter Samsung had a 45% value market share and 40% volume market share. Samsung is a full range player and leads the smartphone business across every segment of the India market in 2017.”
The South Korean tech giant said Canalys analysed shipment numbers while GfK tracked sales and Samsung is ahead by this measurement. The company said that don’t need to do large shipments because it has got a lean and efficient supply chain. A Samsung spokesperson also claimed the company was still India’s Most Trusted Brand in 2017.
The Singapore based Canalys had claimed that the Xiaomi and Samsung command more than 50 percent of smartphone market share in India, with former leading at 27% and the latter trailing at 25%. The Chinese company shipped 8.2 million units in Q4 2017 against South Korean giant’s 7.3 million units as per the report.
Another research firm Counterpoint pegged Xiaomi’s smartphone market share in India at 25% ahead of Samsung’s 23%. Lenovo, Oppo and Vivo ranked below them, each with about 6 percent market share.
This is the first time there’s been a major shake-up in India’s smartphone market share. Earlier only the Indian and Chinese makers as such Micromax, Xiaomi, Lenovo, Vivo and Oppo competed for market share while Samsung remains at the top. Xiaomi was able to exploit the sub Rs 15000 segment winning over cost-conscious customers.
