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Journalism of Courage
Chinese smartphone brands continue to dominate the Indian smartphone market in in 1Q’ CY 2017. According to CMR’s India Quarterly Mobile Handset Market Review, 1Q’ CY 2017 – Xiaomi, vivo and Oppo featured in the top five list with 11.7 per cent, 11.5 percent, and 10.6 per cent shares respectively. Samsung secured the top spot with 29 per cent share, while Apple was the fifth largest smartphone vendor in India in 1Q with 8.8 per cent share.
“In the smartphone arena, the Chinese brands have already kicked out domestic players from the top five list and in the near future, we will see Chinese players wiping out the Indian brands from the top five chart of overall mobile handset segment too. We can’t deny the fact that in the next quarter we may see that happening. For the first time in 33 quarters that might happen. Since 2009, brands like Micromax and Intex have shown their presence in the top five list,” said Krishna Mukherjee, Telecom Analyst with CMR.
The report points out that mobile industry recorded revenues of Rs 346,295 million, an eight per cent decline when compared to the previous quarter. “The revenues of Chinese vendors grew 180% in 1Q’ CY 2017 as against the same quarter last year,” the report reads. Shipments saw a decline in India as well, as only 57 million mobile handsets were sold in 1Q, a fall of about 11 per cent over the previous quarter.
Presently, there are 151 OEMs in India, and Samsung topped the list with 29 per cent share. Further, Rising Stars with 8.08 per cent share and Shenzhen Tecno with 7.53 per cent share took the second and the third spot respectively.
The report also provided insights on strategies that seem to help various brands in India. For Samsung, sales of Galaxy S8 smartphones is one of the biggest things to look out for, though it is highly unlikely that Chinese brands will take over the world leader in the coming quarters. While we’ve been seen Chinese smartphone makers now turning to offline mode of sales for their products, it will take “a long time for them to replicate the strengths of Samsung in Offline selling mode”.
For Chinese brands, which have been leveraging aggressive marketing strategy to sell their value for money devices, the biggest challenge would be to sustain such a campaign. Now with Indian smartphone brands wiped out of the top five list, the competition between Chinese players is likely to get more intense.
Apple, with its ‘Make in India’ iPhone SE will change the market dynamics as it will open up a serious competition for players like Vivo and Oppo, according to the report.
Lenovo and Motorola need to pitch the two portfolios more clearly in the market, and Lenovo “needs to intensify the aggression”, the report points out. Offline channels has been a focus for Oppo for quite some time now, and consumers have come to associate the brand with selfie camera smartphones. However, the two things are being replicated by rivals as well. “The challenge for Oppo now would be to create a new threshold, which can’t be replicated easily,” the report reads.
Vivo, which is also the official sponsor of IPL in India, has so far managed to take advantage of the cricket season. However, whether it can maintain the same popularity otherwise as well, remains to be seen. Xiaomi recently announced it will venture in to offline marketing, and the company already has a Mi Home store in place in Bengaluru. The store showcases company’s range of products including smartphones, air purifiers, power banks, and more. For Xiaomi, its budget and mid-budget phones have done quite well online. Whether the company can replicate the sales via offline channel as well is something to look out for.
Coming to Indian smartphone makers, Micromax will face tough competition from brands like Xiaomi and Vivo, as well as newcomer itel. The challenge for the company is to position itself in sub 10k price-segment, and it latest offering Dual 5 could help with that. Intex, on the other hand, has largely been associated with ‘first smartphone user’ brand, and the company needs to steer away from the image.
