Chinese smartphones continue to lead the market share despite crackdown by the Indian government

• Chinese smartphone makers like Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo have come under the scanner of Indian agencies.
• Despite this, the companies continue to dominate the Indian smartphone market.
• A recent report had also suggested that the government is considering banning Chinese smartphone makers from the budget segment.

Four out of five smartphones sold in the June quarter in India were made by Chinese companies, according to industry reports. This is despite the crackdown by the Indian government on Chinese smartphone giants Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo, which control half of India's smartphone market.

In addition to the crackdown by the government, there have been calls for a boycott of Chinese products in India since the two countries clashed in the Galwan valley in 2020.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently spoke about the crackdown on Chinese companies in the Rajya Sabha. This was in response to a question raised by Bharatiya Janata Party’s Sushil Modi.

According to a report by Counterpoint Research, 79% of India’s smartphone market share was dominated by Chinese smartphone makers in June 2022, up from 75% last year.

The only non-Chinese smartphone maker performing well in India is Samsung, the second-largest smartphone maker in the country. It reported a market share of 19% in Q2 2022, a meagre 1% increase from the same period last year.

Xiaomi

Source: Counterpoint

Xiaomi has been under the scanner of Indian agencies for quite some time now. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) claimed that Xiaomi had illegally remitted ₹5,551.27 crore in February 2022.

We reported that over 80% of the alleged illegal remittances were sent to the Qualcomm Group, which provides a majority of chipsets to Xiaomi.

There has been a notable decline in Xiaomi’s market share in India; the company’s shipments have declined by 26% year-on-year, however, the Counterpoint report has attributed this to component shortages, inflation and increasing prices.

Interestingly, the company’s declining share has boosted the fortunes of other companies, as all the other major smartphone makers have reported growth.

Vivo

Source: Counterpoint

Vivo is another company under the government’s scanner. The ED had conducted raids across 44 premises of Vivo and accused the company of remitting nearly $8 billion to China.

The company’s market share has been increasing over the last few months, and the company reported a 22% year-on-year growth in Q2 2022 with a 17% market share.

As per Counterpoint, Vivo’s growth has been fueled by its new offerings across segments, including its T series in the mid-range segment and the X80 in the premium segment.

Interestingly, Vivo has a 23% market share in the 5G smartphones segment and occupies the second position after Samsung.

Realme

Source: Counterpoint

Realme is another Chinese smartphone maker that has reported an increase in market share. Interestingly, the company reported the highest year-on-year growth among smartphone makers, with a 23% growth in Q2 2022 with a market share of 16%.

Despite the growth, the company slipped from the third position in Q1 2022 to the fourth position in Q2 2022 due to Vivo’s growth.

Realme’s growth has been attributed to its aggressive distribution strategy in the offline and online segments.

Oppo

Source: Counterpoint

Oppo recently came under the scanner of the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), the country’s apex anti-smuggling agency for alleged customs duty evasion.

Despite its fluctuating market share, the company has consistently occupied the fifth position in the Indian smartphone market. The company reported an 18% year-on-year growth in Q2 2022 with 11% market share.

OnePlus

OnePlus, despite being a popular smartphone maker and now having a wider product portfolio, has been unable to crack the top five positions. The company has been performing well after it entered the country’s mid-range segment with the Nord series launch.

It reported an impressive 45% year-on-year growth in Q2 2022. Interestingly, the company was among the companies raided by the Income Tax Department in 2021.

Despite the high growth, OnePlus registered a market share of only 4.1% in Q2 2022, making it a small player in the overall smartphone market.

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