Smartphone shipments in India decline 2% to 52 mn units in September quarter

“The smartphone market continues to show signs of resiliency and the quarterly numbers would have been even higher if not for the component shortages that escalated during the quarter,” the report said.

Counterpoint Senior Research Analyst Prachir Singh said smartphone shipments maintained a strong momentum after the second COVID-19 wave.

“The consumer demand outweighed the supply due to the high pent-up demand. Keeping in mind the global component shortage, most of the brands were aggressively working to secure enough stock for the festive season. The demand in the online channels remained strong and reached highest-ever shipments in Q3 2021,” he added.

Online channels captured around 55 per cent of the smartphone shipments during the quarter.

Counterpoint Research Analyst Monika Sharma said Chinese brands captured 74 per cent share in the Indian smartphone market in the September 2021 quarter.

Xiaomi led the smartphone tally with 22 per cent market share, followed by Samsung (19 per cent), Vivo (15 per cent), Realme (14 per cent) and Oppo (10 per cent) in the September 2021 quarter.

India’s overall mobile handset market declined 5 per cent year-on-year in the quarter under review. 2021. Samsung regained the top position in the overall handset market with 17.6 per cent share, followed by Xiaomi (15.5 per cent), Vivo (10.1 per cent), itel (10 per cent) and Realme (9.9 per cent).

The feature phone market declined 12 per cent y-o-y in the third quarter of 2021 as the migration to smartphones continued. itel led the feature phone market with 27 per cent share, followed by Lava, Nokia HMD and Samsung.

The report noted that Transsion Group brands (itel, Infinix and Tecno) registered 72 per cent y-o-y growth and captured a 9 per cent share collectively in the overall India smartphone market. itel remained the top smartphone brand in the sub- ₹6,000 price band.

“Apple was the highest growing brand in Q3 2021 with 212 per cent y-o-y growth and led the premium smartphone market (above ₹30,000) with a 44 per cent share. The brand maintained its leading position in the ultra-premium segment (above ₹45,000 or USD 650) with a 74 per cent share,” Counterpoint said.

Strong demand for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 11 were the major factors in Apple’s growth and the company became the top 5G smartphone brand in the premium segment for the first time, it added.

OnePlus grew 55 per cent y-o-y in the third quarter, driven by the OnePlus Nord Series and registered its highest ever shipments in India. The brand captured the second spot in the premium segment (over ₹30,000).

Nord series cumulative shipments crossed 3 million units.

Counterpoint said 5G smartphone shipments crossed the 10-million mark for the first time in the September quarter. Vivo became the top 5G smartphone brand for the first time, followed by Samsung, OnePlus and Realme.