The demand for smartphones in India has witnessed new highs and lows due to the nationwide lockdown and change in consumer preferences. Since 5G is on the cliff, a major chunk of users are investing in 5G smartphones to be future-ready. However, smartphone sales in India have slumped by 15-20% sequentially in the April-June quarter because of inactiveness in offline and online sales channels. Not only this but, the renowned Chinese smartphone manufacturer Vivo has also elevated in the smartphone market and bagged the second position after replacing Samsung. Xiaomi continues to be the market leader in India.
Smartphone Shipments Increased in June
Tracing the development of the second quarter, smartphone shipments were nearly 32 million from first-quarter results, which recorded 38 million shipments. As per ET Telecom, the data was provided by leading market trackers like Counterpoint Research, International Data Corporation (IDC) and CyberMedia Research (CMR). However, the quarterly shipments elevated due to increased demand in June month. Also, the on-year smartphone sales increased 64% from 18.2 million in the second quarter of last year.
Vivo has Surpassed Samsung by Nearly 300,000 Shipments
Vivo overpowered the renowned rival Samsung by nearly 300,000 shipments to bag the second position in the smartphone market and sit right down below Xiaomi. Currently, Xiaomi and Vivo are dominating the smartphone market in India. Upasana Joshi, who is the associate research manager at IDC, stated that the market will witness degrowth in Q2 compared to the previous quarter supply since supply chains problems are yet to ease out and spends remained low. Prabhu Ram, who is the head-industry intelligence group at CMR, stated that a potential dip of 15-18% on-quarter in shipments is estimated.
He also marked that the smartphone market will be back on track in H2 2021. Smartphone brands and online partners have already started offering ample benefits and discount schemes to consumers. The prime reason behind the incentives is to push consumer demand in the hype-up of the important festival season. Smartphone manufactures have also increased the prime of some offerings because of contracting margins caused by a shortage of chipsets, display panels and more. It is expected that the market will remain flat at nearly 150 million shipments for the whole year.
