As per the latest Counterpoint’s Market Monitor service report for Q1 2018, Xiaomi has yet again dominated the online marketplace with a share of 57%, which is followed by Samsung with 14% and Huawei (Honor) with 8% of share. The report also stated that e-commerce channels captured a record 38% share of the total smartphone channels during the quarter, driven by exclusive online launches and strong promotions during the latter part of the quarter. Out of the top five smartphones, four of them are Xiaomi's. The best online-selling smartphone in Q1 2018 is the entry-level Xiaomi Redmi 5A with 23% share, while the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 is in the second place with 7% share.
The Xiaomi Redmi 4, Huawei Honor 9 Lite and the Redmi Y1 are on the third, fourth and fifth places. Honor registered a growth of 144% in the first quarter of 2018, thanks to the massive success of Honor 9 Lite smartphone which the company already sold over one million units since the launch. The report also added that top five smartphones contributed close to half of the smartphone shipments through online channels.
As always, Flipkart dominated the online smartphone market with 54% share, while Amazon stood at second place with 30% share. Xiaomi's Mi.com online marketplace secured the third position with 14% share.
Furthermore, the report added that close to 30 exclusive smartphone models were launched in Q1 2018. "Attractive full-screen displays, high capacity batteries and AI features like face recognition were key differentiators for new launches," said Counterpoint in the report.
As it's expected, the entry level shipments were driven by Xiaomi while premium was driven by OnePlus. During the Q1 2018, the OnePlus 5T was the best-selling smartphone, and in Q2 2018, the OnePlus 6 will remain the best-selling premium smartphone as the company sold one million units in just 22 days of launch.
Xiaomi already confirmed that it sold over five million units of Redmi 5A in India and the Redmi Note 5 is also a successful smartphone in the country.
