Xiaomi Leads India Smartphone Shipments, OnePlus Sees Highest YoY Growth in Q1

A new report by market research firm Counterpoint said India’s smartphone shipments grew by 23 percent to 38 million units in Q1 2021 year-on-year (YoY). Xiaomi led the pack with 26 percent market share, but Samsung grew the most among the top 5 brands at 52 percent YoY.

Counterpoint stated that five of the 10 models shipped to the country belonged to Xiaomi. OnePlus led 5G smartphone shipments with a 33 percent share in the segment in Q1 2021, while Realme was hailed as the cheapest 5G offer in Q1 2021.

According to Counterpoint’s latest report on Indian smartphone shipments in Q1 2021, Xiaomi has once again come out on top. While Xiaomi achieved the highest market share of 26 percent, it managed a YoY growth of only 4 percent in Q1 2021, largely driven by the Redmi 9 series. Counterpoint says that the Redmi 9A was the best-selling model with the Mi 10i, which performed well.

On the other hand, Samsung saw the highest year-over-year growth among the top five brands at 52 percent in Q1 2021, focusing its attention on the budget segment with the new Galaxy M02 series and several other new launches. It had a 20 percent market share in Q1 2021.

The refreshed Galaxy A- and Galaxy M-series have been performing well, Counterpoint said, with Samsung taking advantage of the Galaxy S21 flagship series before its launch compared to its normal launch period.

The other three smartphone brands that figure in the top five include Vivo, Realme and Oppo. Vivo grew by 16 percent YoY and finished third in Q1 2021. Realme declined 4 percent YoY in Q1 2021, but managed to retain its fourth position with 11 percent market, while OPPO also increased 12 percent YoY and 11 percent market share. Q1 2021 according to counterpoint.

Although Apple did not rank among the top five brands in India for the most smartphone shipments in Q1 2021, the company continued its momentum from Q4 2020.

And the brand retained its leading position in the premium segment with a share of around 48 percent, leading to strong demand for the iPhone 11 and aggressive offering on the iPhone SE (2020). Counterpoint said Apple recorded more than 1 million shipments for two consecutive quarters for the first time.

Reportedly OnePlus also grew more than 300 percent for Q1 2021 powered by OnePlus Nord, the best-selling 5G smartphone during the quarter, and OnePlus 8T shipments as reported.

April 28, 2021