Samsung, Not Xiaomi, Is Number One In The Indian Market, SK Firm Claims
Canalys, a market tracking firm based in Singapore, reported that Xiaomi is the biggest smartphone company in India, and Samsung is just number two. The South Korean tech firm was quick to respond to refute these claims.
Samsung Still India’s Top Choice
“Samsung is India’s number 1 smartphone company by a distance. As per GfK, which tracks sales to end consumers, in the last (November) quarter Samsung had a 45% value market share and 40% volume market share.”
The spokesperson from the South Korean tech firm also claimed that in 2017 Samsung held the top spot for all segments of the smartphone business in India. The statement added that Samsung earned the “Most Trusted” brand award. The company’s success, according to the statement, is due to the love and trust of millions of Indian consumers.
As noted by TechRadar, this is not the first time Samsung refuted a report by Canalys. In 2015, the report claimed that Micromax is the top smartphone company in India for the year 2014. In response to the report, Samsung claimed that it holds 40.2 percent value share, and 35.7 percent of the volume market share.
Samsung Bumped To Number 2 Spot
As reported by CNBC, the data released by Canalys shows that Samsung holds 25 percent of the market share in India’s smartphone industry while its Chinese competitor Xiaomi has a 27 percent market share. Based on the shipments for the last quarter of 2017, Xiaomi shipped out 8.2 million units while Samsung shipped out 7.3 million smartphones.
Rushabh Doshi, an analyst in the firm, explained that Samsung lost to Xiaomi since the South Korean company struggled to attract cost-conscious buyers. According to Doshi, the struggle between Samsung and Xiaomi would most likely continue in 2018.
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Another company, Counterpoint Research, corroborates the findings in the Canalys report. Counterpoint puts Xiaomi’s total market share for the last quarter of 2017 at 25 percent while Samsung trails behind at 23 percent.
Xiaomi used to be the top brand in China before Vivo, Huawei, and Oppo took over the local smartphone market. With Xiaomi’s success in the Indian market, the Chinese smartphone company can position itself as a lucrative investment.
While earning the top spot in India’s smartphone market is an impressive feat, Doshi also noted that Xiaomi will face major challenges in 2018.
As for Samsung, the company is set to unveil its highly anticipated phone, the S9 and S9 Plus, during the Mobile World Congress on Feb. 28.
