Realme is the winner
India’s smartphone market saw 12 per cent growth in 2021. This helped in reaching record 162 million shipments, according to research firm Canalys. Realme emerged winner in the fourth quarter of 2021, which climbed the number three spot in the overall list of smartphone vendors. It was also the only company which saw positive annual growth in the top five list, while the others all witnessed decline.
Due to the second Covid pandemic wave, India had a tough start to 2021, the report said.
Xiaomi remained the market leader for the fourth quarter of 2021. But its annual growth declined. Overall shipments for the brand stood at 9.3 million units in Q4, and it had a negative growth of 22 per cent. The brand shipped 12 million devices in the same quarter last year, The Indian Express reported.
Samsung stood number two in the quarter with 8.5 million units. It has an overall share of 19 per cent. Samsung saw negative annual growth. It had shipped 9.2 million units in the same quarter in 2020. Its negative growth was 7 per cent.
Realme was number three on the list with 7.6 million shipments and 49 per cent year-on-year growth. “Realme’s record shipment total was made possible by innovations in planning and stock management which led to good supply of mass-market smartphones such as Narzo 50A and C11,” according to Sanyam Chaurasia, Canalys Analyst.
Xiaomi remained market leader
Vivo and Oppo were number four and five respectively in the quarter. Both of the companies saw negative growth of 27 and 19 per cent respectively. In 2021, Xiaomi remained the market leader as well with 25 per cent market share. Samsung was number two with a modest 5 per cent growth. While vivo managed to stay number three in the overall list for 2021, its growth declined by 4 per cent, the report said.
Realme and Oppo were number four and five in the list. Realme was also the only player with double digit annual growth of 25 per cent for the overall numbers for 2021.
Game changer 5G
According to Canalys’ data, new players are emerging in the low-end segment of the market. JioPhone Next, which launched around Diwali in 2021 was a major player. “For example, JioPhone Next, which aims to upgrade feature-phone users via disruptive financing options, made a strong start with several million units sold. And on Amazon and Flipkart, Infinix and Tecno efficiently leveraged brand promotional campaigns,” Chaurasia was quoted as saying.
In 2022, the Canalys expects that the smartphone market will continue to grow in India, with demand being driven by replacement needs as well as new customers migrating to smartphones. 5G, which is the next-generation of mobile telecom networks, is also expected to play a more important role this year and is expected to drive growth for the smartphone market as well.
“Smartphones capable of 5G will fall further in price amid fierce vendor rivalry, but shipments will be stifled in H1 2022 before the component shortage eases. Overall, India will see upward momentum towards future-proof technologies, with smartphones being at the core of the digital ecosystem and growing ever-more essential to the daily lives of Indian citizens,” Chaurasia said
