Xiaomi leads the Indian smartphone market, Oppo is the only brand still growing

A few days ago Canalys released its report on global smartphone sales in the third quarter of this year (July to September), and today it returns with a similar assessment, this time focused on the Indian smartphone market.

Overall, shipments to India fell 6% in the third quarter of 2022 compared to the quarter a year ago, which Canalys said was due to weak demand for low-end devices. Total shipments were 44.6 million units, down from 47.5 million in the third quarter of 2021.

Xiaomi continues to lead the market, with 9.2 million units shipped and a market share of 21%, although both of these numbers are down from the third quarter of 2022 when it shipped 11.2 million devices and had the 24 % of the pie. In fact, four of the top five brands saw both shipments and market share decrease from a year ago.

The only exception to this trend is Oppo, which went from 6.2 million units sold and a market share of 13% in the third quarter of 2021 to 7.1 million units sold and a market share of 16%. in the third quarter of 2022. That’s a healthy 14% growth right there. Second place Samsung and third place alive fell the least in terms of market share, at 1% each, although the actual drop in the volume of shipments was 11% and 9%, respectively.

Xiaomi and realme had the worst in terms of shipments, both seeing 18% fewer units sold compared to the quarter a year ago.

Canalys analyst Sanyam Chaurasia said the following:

The contribution of entry-level devices has declined this year, while the upper-middle segment has performed relatively well thanks to aggressive promotions. OPPO’s OnePlus and vivo’s iQOO were the two brands that spearheaded mid-range growth in the e-commerce channel during this period. Ultra-premium smartphones, especially older generation flagships, have also experienced strong demand momentum due to price cuts. Samsung has been offering huge discounts on its older generation Galaxy Z Fold3 and latest Galaxy S22 series in the online and offline channels. Likewise, demand for the heavily discounted iPhone 13 has surpassed the latest iPhone 14, whose value proposition is very similar to the former.