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.
The industry is back!
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!
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.