Samsung was trying to regain the top position in the list of leading smartphone vendors in India since 2017 by battling with the Chinese smartphone company Xiaomi. Now, Samsung has another competitor to worry. Another Chinese smartphone manufacturer Vivo has surpassed Samsung and gained the second position in the list of largest smartphone vendor in India in first quarter of 2020. As per a new report by Canalys, Vivo has witnessed 50% increase in shipments which helped the company to gain 19.9% market share and secure the second position in the list of largest smartphone vendors in India.
Vivo Shipped 6.7 Million Smartphones in First Quarter of 2020
The BBK-owned Smartphone manufacturer Vivo shipped whooping 6.7 million smartphones from January to March, whereas Samsung shipped 6.3 million smartphones in the same quarter. Samsung witnessed a decline in the shipment by nearly 14% in the first quarter, which slipped the company in the third position. Also, the market share of Samsung, which was 18.9% has declined to 13.7%. Apart from Vivo, Realme turned out to be another big gainer in the list. The company’s year-to-year shipments increased to 200% and Realme retained the fourth position comfortably.
Xiaomi Leads the List of Largest Smartphone Vendor in India
Xiaomi surpassed Samsung in the first quarter of 2017 to become the largest smartphone brand in India. Since then, the Chinese smartphone manufacture has retained the top position in the list. Xiaomi has shipped 10.3 million smartphones in the first quarter of 2020 and acquired a market share of 30.6% with an annual growth of 8.4%.
Smartphone Vendors Will Witness Decline in Sales
The lockdown period announced by the government to combat COVID-19 will trouble smartphone vendors in India. As Smartphones do not come under essentials items, both online and offline sales of Smartphones are restricted in India until May 03, 2020. Since the threat of COVID-19 is not neutralised, it is expected that smartphone manufactures will witness a decline in sales in the next quarter of 2020. However, smartphone companies have reached out to the government to consider smartphones as an essential commodity and allow online and offline sales. Till date, no official announcement has been made by the government regarding relaxation to smartphone vendors.
