In first quarter of 2018, 38% smartphones were sold online
India is becoming increasingly reliant on e-commerce, especially pertaining to gadgets' sales. A new report by Counterpoint Research found that e-commerce platforms captured a record 38% of all smartphone sales in India in the first quarter of 2018. It also provided insights into the performance of e-commerce platforms like Flipkart, Amazon and the like with regard to smartphone sales. Here's what the report found.
Flipkart remains the dominant player in the online smartphone market
The report revealed that the online segment of the smartphone market had outpaced the offline segment in Q1 2018 - while the online segment grew by 4% on a year-on-year basis, smartphone shipments in the offline segment had declined by 3%. Meanwhile, Flipkart remained the dominant player in the online smartphone market with a 54% share, followed by Amazon's 30%, and Mi.com's 14%.
Flipkart's smartphone retailing segment saw a 60% Y-o-Y growth
According to Ajay Veer, senior vice-president (mobiles), Flipkart, the home-grown e-commerce giant saw a whopping 60% year-on-year growth in the smartphone retailing segment in 2017. He also claimed that one in four smartphones sold in India are through Flipkart.
Xiaomi controls 57% of India's online smartphone market
Meanwhile, within the online segment of the smartphone market, Xiaomi continued to be the most dominant player. The Chinese smartphone maker maintained a huge lead over its competitors in the segment in Q1 2018, with 57% of the market share. In second place came Samsung with a 14% share, followed by Huawei with 8%.
Four out of five most popular phones belong to Xiaomi
The report by Counterpoint Research also revealed that four of the five most popular smartphones in Q1 2018 belonged to Xiaomi. The phones, in order of popularity, were Redmi 5A, Redmi Note 5, Redmi 4, Huawei Honor 9 Lite and Redmi Y1.
What drove the growth in the online segment?
Understanding the popularity of the online segment of the smartphone market takes no genius. E-commerce platforms offer catalogues which allow users to browse through a whole list of products. Additionally, e-commerce platforms also see several exclusive phone launches, and offer customers several attractive offers. Notably, in Q1 2018, nearly 30 exclusive smartphone models were launched in partnership with e-commerce platforms.
