Indian smartphone industry hit by COVID-19 as shipments fall 51 pct; Samsung recovers fastest to grab 2nd spot

The Indian smartphone industry has been hit hard by COVID-19 pandemic as shipments declined by 51 per cent YoY to just over 18 million units in the second quarter (Q2) of 2020, a new report said on Friday. According to Counterpoint Research’s Market Monitor service report, South Korean electronics giant Samsung has recovered the fastest from the setback, grabbing the second spot behind Xiaomi.  

Chinese handset maker Xiaomi continues to lead the Indian smartphone market with a 29 per cent market share in Q2, followed by Samsung with a share of 26 per cent and Vivo at the third spot. The report added that the market is starting to return to normal and in June 2020, smartphone shipments in the country registered a mild decline of 0.3 per cent YoY. 

“The COVID-19 pandemic wiped-out almost 40 days of production as well as the sales of smartphones due to the nation-wide lockdown. During May, the government allowed shops to open and online channel deliveries for non-essential items. As a result, the market witnessed a surge in sales as the lockdown restrictions were slowly lifted. The quarter was thus marred by both demand and supply constraints which led OEMs to rethink their go-to-market strategies," Prachir Singh, Senior Research Analyst at Counterpoint Research, said in a statement. 

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The strong anti-China sentiment reflect in smartphone sales as contribution of Chinese brands fell to 72 per cent in Q2 from 81 per cent in Q1. However, a part of decline was also stuttering supply for some major Chinese brands such as Oppo, Vivo and Realme. 

As mentioned, Samsung recovered the fastest amid anti-China sentiments as it reached 94 per cent of pre-COVID levels becoming the second largest brand in Q2. The brand increased its market share by 10 per cent as compared to 16 per cent in Q1. Samsung’s growth came as company revamped the M-series and launched it in offline channels together with new schemes like Samsung Care+.  

Meanwhile, OnePlus regained its top position in the premium market (>Rs 30000 ~$398 ) with its newly launches OnePlus 8 series, while Apple remained the leading brand in the ultra-premium segment (>Rs 45000 ~ $600) driven by iPhone 11 shipments.