Vivo leads, Samsung bleeds, and Apple thrives in one of the world's biggest smartphone markets
Q3 2025 was not an amazing quarter for India's smartphone market as a whole, but two of the nation's top five vendors can certainly be pleased with their year-on-year progress.
But despite what those numbers seem to suggest at first glance, Apple actually has more reasons to be satisfied with its latest regional haul than (almost) every other company that does this type of business in the world's most populous nation.
Since when does 10 percent equate to a victory?
Before you call me an Apple "fanboy" or "shill", hear me out when I say that the Cupertino-based tech giant is (one of) the biggest winners of Omdia's newest India-focused smartphone market report.
One of the most important indicators of success when analyzing such figures is always year-on-year growth, and that's a department where iPhones currently shine a lot brighter than Galaxy handsets (at least in India).
Yes, Vivo is the champion, but Apple is the biggest grower... of the top five.
That's because Apple's Q3 sales in the region are up no less than 47 percent from the 3.3 million units posted this time last year, while Samsung's scores are actually down by 9 percent from the 7.5 mil total of the July-September 2024 quarter.
Samsung, of course, remains ahead of Apple (as well as Xiaomi and Oppo) in second place, only yielding to gold medalist Vivo, which leads the market by a much wider margin after a solid 19 percent year-on-year progress of its own.
Who do you think will take India's crown at the end of 2025?
Definitely Vivo
50%
My money's on Samsung
14.29%
I say Apple
28.57%
Xiaomi/Oppo/another brand
7.14%
19 percent is not as impressive as 47 percent, though, not to mention the 53 percent and 66 percent surges of Motorola and Nothing respectively outside the top five vendors' club.
Will Apple take the lead in Q4 2025?
Globally, most likely. In India, probably not. How do I know that? Well, I don't, but I do know Vivo, Xiaomi, Samsung, and Oppo all trumped Apple in Q4 2024, and no matter how popular the iPhone 17 family (and the iPhone Air) might become by the end of this year, overtaking four different brands in one fell swoop seems... challenging, to say the least.
Apple, mind you, barely managed to crack India's top five for the first time ever between October and December of last year, following up that feat with a new record high Q3 result this year.
Clearly, iPhones are thriving in a country that seemed so hard to penetrate for the world's number two handset vendor just a few years ago, and as you can imagine, that's largely thanks to low-cost members of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 families.
This graph definitely looks promising for Apple, but not that promising.
But the "base" iPhone 17 model is also off to a strong start in India (in addition to China and the US), while higher-end Pro variants are gaining popularity at a slightly slower pace. Samsung, meanwhile, continues to find success with affordable powerhouses like the Galaxy S24 FE and Galaxy S25 FE, but not so much with "entry tier" Galaxy A-series devices or true Galaxy S25 flagships.
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As for Vivo, its main strength apparently lies in a "balanced portfolio" and "aggressive retail programs", though its healthy growth (and Apple, Motorola, and Nothing's even bigger aforementioned surges) were not enough to help the market as a whole flourish.
Yes, Indian smartphone shipments are up from Q3 2024, but only by 3 percent, and analysts fear the Q4 numbers will be even less impressive, possibly leading to a "modest decline" in the region's full-year results after a disastrous first quarter and a decent Q2.
Diversity is the key to success now
If there's one thing to take away from today's Omdia report, I believe that's the lesson to be learned, with not just Vivo's success story depending greatly on its expansive and "balanced" product lineup.
2025 is clearly not the best year on record for India's smartphone market.
The same can also be said about Motorola, which apparently broke its all-time quarterly sales record in the region thanks to the Moto G series and Edge 60, as well as Apple, which is definitely surging on the diverse strengths of a larger-than-ever iPhone roster.
Of course, this lesson seems to apply to other markets in recent years too, from China to Western Europe and even (although to a smaller degree) the US.
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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
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