Samsung tops India's 'stellar' smartphone market once again, but competition is as tight as ever

Samsung tops India’s ‘stellar’ smartphone market once again, but competition is as tight as ever،

For the first time in 13 incredible years, Samsung is notthe world's number one smartphone supplier. And for the first time Never, Apple ranks first in annual global smartphone shipments. This seismic shift obviously wouldn't have been possible without the underperformance of the former champion and the outperformance of the new titleholder in many major markets, but that doesn't mean Apple now holds an advantage over Samsung everywhere. the world.

In fact, there is at least one huge country where iPhones still aren't among the top five most popular “types” of handsets on the market. We are talking about India, which continues to be a very fruitful field not only for Samsung but also for its compatriots. android phone manufacturers Vivo, Xiaomi, Realme and Oppo as well.

The industry is back!

These are (in order) the five best suppliers in the country for the year 2023, the hierarchy having changed a lot compared to 2022, when Xiaomi won the gold medal and Samsung had to settle for silver. The former region champion saw its sales figures drop 15 percent year-over-year, and with Samsung only losing 1 percent, there's obviously a new sheriff in city the country.

Samsung is once again leading the “stellar” smartphone market in India, but the competition is as tight as ever.

Overall, smartphone shipments in India declined last year by 2% compared to the previous year, which is actually a pretty good result considering the market has been in decline for five quarters consecutive… before the fourth quarter of 2023.

Sales increased by an incredible 20% in the last three months of last year (compared to the same period of 2022), and the top four suppliers all made crucial contributions to this significant growth and somewhat unexpected. Samsung jumped 14% year-over-year to retain its holiday crown, edging out Xiaomi, which actually saw an even more impressive 31% rise.

In third place, Vivo didn't really ignite the country with its fairly modest 10% growth, while Realme absolutely exploded, going from 2.7 million to 4.5 million units shipped to keep Oppo at bay. Going forward, India's “stellar” smartphone market is expected to continue growing, but probably not at the same pace as in Q4 2023. But the local industry is certainly bouncing back after a period of difficulties, and on top of these major brands of Android smartphones, it's also thanks to Apple.

Premium phones are the bomb!

Yes, iPhones are slowly but surely improving their mass appeal in the region, dominating the fast-growing and extremely profitable premium market segment. Like almost everywhere in the world (perhaps with the worthy exception of China), the iPhone 15 series got off to a very good start at the Indian box office, even if the iPhone 14 and even iPhone 13 models remain very popular. well, especially as their prices continue to fall.

Overall, Apple was apparently responsible for 7% of Q4 2023 smartphone sales in India, which isn't a number that will make many Samsung executives shudder, but it's certainly something the Cupertino-based tech giant can continue to build on. In the years to come.

The local premium market segment, mind you, was also boosted at the end of the year by the successful launch of Samsung's Galaxy S23 FE, as well as various festive deals and promotions that helped the Galaxy S23, S23 Plus and S23 Ultra to maintain their appeal.

Canalys is not ready to share full, detailed numbers for this segment for the fourth quarter or all of 2023, but high-end smartphones are expected to continue to gain popularity in India, helping Apple and Samsung (but also other brands) to maintain their profit margins. nice and big.