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OnePlus and Realme were the fastest growing brands in India last quarter

Published: Apr 28, 2022, 1:28 PM

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OnePlus and Realme were the fastest growing brands in India last quarter

Unlike the Chinese smartphone market, which experienced a rather dramatic decline between January and March because of lockdowns and other economic factors, the neighboring Indian market remains relatively stable.

In the first three months of 2022, smartphone manufacturers shipped a combined 38 million units in India. That represents a small decline of 1% year-on-year, with this being mostly attributed to continued component shortages.

A third COVID-19 wave that extended into January also impacted these numbers, although Counterpoint Research reports that demand had largely recovered by the end of the month.

Xiaomi is still winning India, although its share is falling

Moving on to the market breakdown, Xiaomi retained its spot as the leading brand in India with a 23% market share. In other words, almost a quarter of all phones sold between January and March were Xiaomi-branded. These results represent a noticeable decrease compared to a year ago, however. Xiaomi’s shipments in India dropped 13-year-on-year because of inflation, shortages, and intense competition.

Nevertheless, Xiaomi’s decision to revamp its Note series and focus on 5G handsets worked in its favor. In fact, when it comes to 5G smartphones, Xiaomi was the second largest brand by volume in India.

Samsung is the 5G leader, as well as the 2nd brand overall

Following in a close second was Samsung with a 1% decline in shipments and a market share of 20%, matching the level achieved a year earlier. While shortages have been experienced across the entire smartphone industry, Samsung appears to have been less affected by them.

Counterpoint Research highlighted Samsung’s new Galaxy S22 series as a reason for its success lately. It also noted the brand’s decision to revamp the Galaxy A series and Galaxy M lineup in recent months. While the South Korean giant couldn’t quite beat Xiaomi overall, it did occupy the number one spot in the 5G market. Samsung also took the lead in the $400-600 segment, which sits right below the flagship one.

Realme has now overtaken both Vivo and Oppo

Realme was perhaps the biggest winner in India between January and March. Its shipments surged 40% compared to a year ago, helping it leap from 5th to 3rd place on the leaderboard. This success comes down to the company’s focus on the online segment and its smaller portfolio of devices that target a wider audience, per the report.

Realme’s decision to cut costs with UNISOC has been welcomed too. That speaks to the brand's ability to market its smartphones to the Indian market, since local consumers tend to be very well-informed when it comes to specifications and often prefer chipsets from well-known brands like Qualcomm.

Apple and OnePlus are doing well in their respective segments

Other brands worth mentioning are Apple and OnePlus, although neither is close to breaking into the top 5 anytime soon. The latter has seen its shipments increase by a whopping 347% compared to Q1 2021, thanks to the popularity of the OnePlus 9RT and OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G.

Last quarter, OnePlus was the third most popular brand in the premium smartphone segment (all phones priced above $400) behind Apple and Samsung. That’s primarily because of the well-received OnePlus 9 series. The company is also doing well in the increasingly popular 5G segment, where the OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G was the best-selling smartphone overall.

As for Apple, its shipments increased 5% year-over-year, enough to secure its position once again as the leading premium brand. The iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 are the main reasons for this, although Apple’s efforts to build more iPhones in India also played an important role.