Xiaomi set to overtake Samsung as India's largest smartphone seller
What's the story
Chinese device maker Xiaomi, which entered India's smartphone market in 2014, is giving a really tough competition to Samsung.
According to Counterpoint Research, Xiaomi's market share at 22.3% is only 0.5% less than Samsung's 22.8% in Q3 2017.
It registered 292% Year-on-Year growth thanks to its affordable yet premium devices, especially Redmi Note 4, India's best-selling smartphone for the third consecutive quarter.
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Xiaomi expanding offline, a step in the right direction
Counterpoint Research's Associate Director for Mobile Devices and Ecosystems, Tarun Pathak, stated, "Xiaomi's offline expansion into India with right device portfolio helped the smartphone maker cement its position right after the market leader Samsung."
Details
Counterpoint Research on the rise of Xiaomi
Counterpoint Research released its preliminary estimates for Q3 2017, which ended on 30 September.
It said the rise of Xiaomi can be attributed to the increase in demand for the mid-price segment (up to Rs. 10,000) phones in India, which peaked in late-2016.
It added, "Xiaomi, with its Redmi Note 4, was right there and became the model of the market within no time."
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Difficult to root out Samsung
Counterpoint Research's Tarun Pathak said, "It will be difficult for Xiaomi to root out Samsung in the Indian market but yes, it won't be a surprise to see Xiaomi becoming number one model in one of the upcoming quarters."
Smartphones
Overall smartphone sales in Q3 in India
Following Samsung and Xiaomi in smartphone sales are China's Vivo and Oppo which registered 121% and 117 Year-on-Year% (YoY) growth in Q3, respectively.
Counterpoint Research said whopping 40 million smartphones were sold in India in the third-quarter, registering a 13% YoY and 32% Quarter-on-Quarter growth.
The report also noted that the festive season has also contributed to the high smartphone sales in India.
Feature phones
The feature phone segment in the country
As expected, Samsung remains the leader in the Indian feature phone space with a 23% market share.
Chinese phone manufacturer itel followed the South Korean giant with a 13% market share in the segment.
Domestic player Micromax was at the third place and HMD Global's Nokia at the fourth. Each of these two companies had an 8% market share.
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Micromax: India's third largest feature phone brand
Homegrown device maker Micromax reportedly posted its best quarter results since demonetization, as the note ban affected local players in India. Meanwhile, Nokia rose to the fourth place owing to the demand for its Nokia 3310 among other feature phones.