‪‪Smartphone‬ Xiaomi‬ Samsung‬ ‪India‬ ‪Canalys‬‬

                                ‪‪Smartphone‬ Xiaomi‬ Samsung‬ ‪India‬ ‪Canalys‬‬

Xiaomi usurps Samsung to become top smartphone seller in India

Samsung Electronics has lost its crown as the top smartphone seller in India for the first time in six years, as it was outsold by China’s Xiaomi in the final quarter of 2017, data from two tech research firms shows.

Xiaomi’s aggressively priced suite of high-spec handsets and market expansion strategy enabled it to take the top spot in the world’s biggest smartphone market after China, said Tarun Pathak of Counterpoint Research.

The Chinese company, which is exploring a public listing and is now valued at close to $100 billion, entered India just over three years ago.

Its strategy there has so far rested on flash sales on leading homegrown e-commerce player Flipkart and US tech giant Amazon.com’s Indian site, an approach that helped it snatch market share without have to spend heavily on marketing.

Canalys puts Xiaomi on top, Samsung at No 2 in India smartphone market

Reliance Jio Infocomm is in talks with Xiaomi to enter into a long-term relationship similar to what it has with Apple, to sell the Chinese brand’s televisions and smartphones exclusively through the Jio retail network and the Reliance Digital chain of stores, two senior industry executives said.

On the cards also is an arrangement to provide Xiaomi’s B2B products like smart point-of-sales devices to Jio retailers to digitise the supply chain. They will also explore bringing more products of the Chinese company into the Indian market, the executives said.

The proposed deal comes on the heels of Xiaomi India making a regulatory filing, announcing its intension to enter products beyond smartphones, including for the B2B segment, in this market.

Xiaomi pips Samsung as top smartphone company: Canalys

“Xiaomi now leading with shipments close to 8.2 million units (27 per cent market share) in Q4 2017. Despite annual growth of 17 per cent, Samsung failed to maintain its lead, shipping just over 7.3 million smartphones (25 per cent share) to take second place,” Canalys said in its report.

Samsung says it is still the number one smartphone company in India "by a distance". The company responded to a recent report by Canalys, a Singapore-based market tracking firm. The Canalys report says that Xiaomi shipped 8.2 million units in the October-December quarter, ahead of Samsung, which shipped 7.3 million units.

In response, a Samsung spokesperson said, “Samsung is India’s number 1 smartphone company by a distance. As per GfK, which tracks sales to end consumers, in the last (November) quarter Samsung had a 45% value market share and 40% volume market share. Samsung is a full range player and leads the smartphone business across every segment of the India market in 2017. More importantly, Samsung is India’s ‘Most Trusted’ brand. We owe our undisputed leadership to the love and trust of millions of our consumers in India.”

According to the latest insights released by Canalys, with over 27 million units shipped, Indian smartphone market grew 12 per cent year-on year in the first quarter of 2017. Canalys is an independent analyst company delivering smart market insights.

Samsung continues to dominate the market at the first position followed by Xiaomi. Vivo has managed to take the third position, pushing Lenovo back to fourth and Oppo moved to the fifth position. Chinese players have been dominating the Indian smartphone market, pushing out their Indian counterparts from the list of top five vendors.

Canalys explains, 'The top three players now have markedly different channel strategies. Samsung maintained its market share, shipping just over 6 million units. Sustained J-series shipments to its established offline distribution partners ensured that it stayed on top. Xiaomi continued to grow in Q1 2017, accounting for 14 per cent of shipments in the quarter, up from 3 per cent a year ago, as it closes in on 4 million units. Third-placed Vivo surpassed the 10 per cent mark this quarter, with an impressive 36% growth in sequential shipments.'