Xiaomi has emerged as the second biggest smartphone brand in India after Samsung as its smash hit Redmi Note 4 broke sales records, according to market share numbers for the first three months of the year.
The numbers also revealed that for the first time in eight years, there could be no Indian brand in the list of top five handset brands in the country soon. At present, Micromax is hanging in at No.5 spot with a 6% share, but that too could soon be claimed by a Chinese player, CyberMedia Research said.
“In the smartphone arena, the Chinese brands have already kicked out domestic players from the top five list and in the near future, we will see Chinese players wiping out the Indian brands from the top five chart of overall mobile handset segment too. We can’t deny the fact that in the next quarter we may see that happening,” said analyst Krishna Mukherjee.
“For the first time in 33 quarters that might happen. Since 2009, brands like Micromax and Intex have shown their presence in the top five list.”
Mukherjee was talking about sheer numbers of phones sold.
Micromax has already been dislodged from No.5 position if, instead of number of phones, their value is considered.
“Quarter on quarter we are witnessing the MILK (Micromax-Intex-Lava-Karbonn) brands not being able to leverage any of the anchors they enjoyed over the years. Be it establishing themselves across the country or becoming the first choice for first time mobile (Feature as well as Smart) users, the brands have not been able to support a consumer’s journey,” CyberMedia Research said.
“While they could not have matching marketing campaigns as their Chinese counterparts and preferred to ‘wait’ till they burnt their money, their grip on the market became weak impacting their market standings.
“The success of itel and Xiaomi, brands, which are not aggressively marketing by spending crores, are case studies for MILK brands to take cues from–on how to manage visibility. It is high time for MILK brands to strengthen their digital presence, not only from selling perspective but also from the angle of influencing youth, which directly or indirectly are responsible for two out of three Smartphone sales in India,” it added.
“The second quarter will be very critical for the brand to regain its market standing, else it may slip further with itel strengthening in Feature phones and Xiaomi and Vivo intensifying within Smartphones.”
TOP FIVE
The top player in the overall mobile phone market by revenue (including smartphone and feature phone) is Samsung, with a 30% share, followed by Xiaomi with 11.5% and Vivo with 11.4%. At number four is Oppo with 10.5% and Apple with 8.7%.
The ranking remains the same even if you exclude the feature phones.
If one looks at number of phones sold, Xiaomi again comes in at No.2 if one looks only at smartphones, but slips to No.3 — behind Itel — if one includes feature phones in the mix.
One year ago, Apple used to be No.2, Micromax No.3, Lenovo at No.4 and Intex at No.5 in the overall phone market.
Out of these, both Micromax and Intex have dropped out as Chinese players have invested heavily into the Indian market.
For Xiaomi, the runaway hit Redmi Note 4 is likely to have been the key reason for the boost.
“Xiaomi needs to exhibit its competencies in newer areas as it graduates to an Omni-Channel brand. Establishing the Offline Mi-Homes as well as getting into conventional marketing techniques would be the two primary areas to watch out for,” CyberMedia Research said.