Counterpoint Research has released its quarterly analysis of the smartphone market in India. The numbers for the third quarter of 2021 revealed an overall 11% decline in year-over-year sales to 45 million units. This is the first annual decline for the July-September period in India, mainly due to pent-up demand since the third quarter of 2021, as well as lower demand in the second quarter of 2022 due to the global macroeconomic situation.
In the three months Xiaomi remained in the lead, but Samsung managed to fill the gap as the Korean company was among the few to achieve annual growth. Apple hit its all-time highest share in India at 5%, and the 2021 iPhone 13 became the best-selling model in the third quarter.
The market came out with high inventories in the second quarter of 2022, which led to modest demand in the following period, revealed Prachir Singh, Senior Research Analyst at Counterpoint. The entry-tier and budget segments were the hardest hit and the “unfavorable macroeconomic conditions” will continue into the fourth quarter.
According to the report, 32% of all smartphones were 5G enabled. Expectations are that the share of 5G phones will grow even more as India starts to roll out 5G and users are eager to upgrade their devices.
Featurephone sales fell 24%, bringing the total drop in mobile phone shipments to 15% year-on-year. The current economic situation primarily affects low-income families, or “users at the bottom of the pyramid,” as Counterpoint said. The leader in featurephones was Itel for three consecutive years and this remained unchanged in the third quarter of 2021.
Xiaomi’s declining lead is mainly due to low demand for midrange and entry-level phones. Samsung managed to close the lead with attractive offers for the Galaxy M and Galaxy F smartphones, while vivo came third with strong sales of the V series and the iQOO sub-brand.
Transsion could have climbed to fifth place if we count all the brands under one umbrella. The conglomerate that owns Itel, Infinix and Tecno recorded 12% of sales, driven by strong demand for Tecno Pop 5 LTE and Spark Go 2022: both devices are in the price range below INR8,000.
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