Xiaomi pips Samsung to lead India smartphone market in Q1 with 19% volume share :CMR

New Delhi: Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has pipped Samsung to lead the India smartphone market with 19.3 per cent volume share in the second quarter of 2024, a report said on Tuesday.

According to CyberMedia Research's India Mobile Handset Market Review Report for April-June, the India smartphone market declined 4 per cent and the overall mobile phone shipment decreased 3 per cent year-on-year.

"Xiaomi (19.3 per cent), Samsung (18.5 per cent) and Vivo (17 per cent) captured the top three spots in the smartphone leaderboard in the second quarter of 2024, followed by Realme (13 per cent) and OPPO (9 per cent)," the report said.

The CyberMedia Research (CMR) report said Apple captured 5 per cent share in the smartphone market with Apple iPhone 15 series constituting 58 per cent of its total shipments during the quarter.

In the feature phone segment, Chinese company itel Mobile continued to lead the market with 35 per cent share.

Homegrown mobile phone company Lava pipped Nokia to occupy the second spot in the feature segment with 30 per cent share.

Nokia's market share in the feature phone segment declined to 11 per cent from 17 per cent a year ago.

According to the report, 5G smartphone shipments' share in the country increased to 79 per cent, marking a notable 56 per cent YoY growth.

Vivo led the 5G smartphone market with 21 per cent market share, followed by Samsung at 20 per cent. 5G smartphones in the price band of Rs 10,000-13,000 grew by over 200 per cent YoY.

The report said India's smartphone market would grow 7-8 per cent in 2024, driven by strong demand for 5G and AI smartphones.

"The availability of affordable 5G phones in the Rs 10,000-13,000 range has significantly propelled market growth. Additionally, the premiumization wave continues to stay strong, with the premium segment (above Rs 25,000) witnessing a 9 per cent YoY growth," Menka Kumari, Analyst- Industry Intelligence Group, CMR said.

According to the report, the affordable smartphone segment (below Rs 7,000) has faced challenges, experiencing 26 per cent year-on-year (YoY) decline. This trend highlights a shift in consumer preferences towards more feature-rich options.

The value-for-money segment, priced Rs 7,000-25,000, continues to lead, capturing 71 per cent market share, the report said.

The overall feature phone market recorded 1 per cent YoY growth while 2G feature phone shipments decreased by 6 per cent YoY.

The 4G feature phone shipments recorded 39 per cent growth during the quarter, majorly driven by Jio capturing 68 per cent market share followed by Nokia at 28 per cent, the report said.

"Jio captured 15 per cent market share in the feature phone market in the second quarter of 2024 largely driven by its JioBharat B1 model capturing 36 per cent share followed by JioPhone Prima at 22 per cent," it said.

CMR estimates a MediaTek-led India's smartphone chipset market with 54 per cent share and Qualcomm-led premium segment (over Rs 25,000 segment) with 37 per cent share.