Bogdan Petrofan / Android Authority
TL; DR
- Xiaomi’s market share in India has fallen to a new low.
- Samsung is now the number one player in India, with data suggesting that it will hold that crown going forward.
- India is Xiaomi’s second most important market (after China), and it’s been the biggest dog there in almost every quarter since 2017.
The two largest smartphone markets in the world are China and India. In the latter country, there was one player that dominated smartphone sales for the past five years: Xiaomi. This was thanks to its recipe for good looking phones with decent specs and very low prices.
However, things are changing in India. Anti-Chinese sentiment is at an all-time high, and Indians They have more disposable income than in previous years. Thanks to the data from Counterpoint ResearchWe can see that Xiaomi’s market share in the Indian smartphone industry has declined. In fact, 2022 marked the end of a five-year streak of Xiaomi dominating the Indian smartphone market in all but one quarter.
As one would expect, Xiaomi’s loss is Samsung’s gain.
Xiaomi’s market share decline
The above graph shows the struggle between Samsung and Xiaomi for the Indian market share over the past few years. You can see that Xiaomi dominates almost every quarter, with Samsung losing a lot of momentum from Q2 2018 through Q1 2020, the latter of which saw the company at an all-time low. If you remember, this time period was a recession Galaxy A seriesSamsung mid-range and budget portfolio. Without strong entries into the market, Samsung has basically handed the gains to Xiaomi.
However, around this time Samsung really started taking the Galaxy A series seriously and bounced back. However, Xiaomi’s market share was superior in all but one quarter: the third quarter of 2020, at which time the Galaxy A series was doing well again. However, Samsung quickly lost that momentum.
In 2022, Xiaomi’s market share has declined. As mentioned earlier, a combination of anti-Chinese sentiment and citizens’ willingness to spend more on smartphones contributed to this downfall. Now, in 2023, the above graph strongly suggests that Samsung will continue to gain in the country while Xiaomi will continue to decline.
This scheme must be very worrying for Xiaomi. Obviously, its usual strategy — releasing lots of really cheap phones all the time — isn’t going to work anymore. It has to start making phones that appeal to buyers who want more quality, even if it means they need to spend more. If this change does not happen, the Indian market will be for Samsung – and even Apple – to win.
