Xiaomi loses its top position to Vivo as Indian smartphone market grows 9% in Q3

Xiaomi slipped from its pole position, allowing Vivo to become India’s most-selling smartphone brand in the third quarter of 2024. The two heavyweights' positions follow a positive shift in the Indian smartphone market, led by a growth of 9 per cent in Q3 2024 with shipments of 47.1 million units, according to the latest report by market tracker Canalys, citing inventory clearance through early monsoon sales across online and offline channels to prepare themselves for the festive season.

Securing the top position, Vivo doled out a shipment of 9.1 million units in the three months through September, representing a year-on-year growth of 26 per cent and a 19 per cent market share in Q3. The company’s market share was 17 per cent during the same time last year, while its shipments stood at 7.2 million units. Xiaomi lost its position and ranked second with total shipments of 7.8 million units, which rose by 3 per cent from 7.6 million units in Q3 2023. However, the company’s market share shrank from 18 per cent last year to 17 per cent in 2024’s third quarter.

Samsung, which once was the top smartphone brand in India, reached the third spot, witnessing a decline of 4 per cent to 7.5 million shipments in Q3 2024 from 7.9 million units in Q3 2023. Its market share also dipped from 18 per cent in Q3 2023 to 16 per cent in Q3 2024, according to Canalys.

While Vivo led the smartphone shipments, its sister BBK Electronics brand Oppo registered the maximum YoY jump of 43 per cent in shipments. It sold 6.3 million units in three months through September this year, representing a 13 per cent market share, as compared to 4.4 million same time last year, which accounted for a share of 10 per cent.

“Both Vivo and Oppo leveraged their expanded online portfolios, including the T3 and K12 series, to boost volumes beyond their traditionally stronger offline channels. The top brands in the market are expanding their portfolio in the mid-high range, in anticipation of clearing inventory during festive sales,” said Sanyam Chaurasia, senior analyst at Canalys.

Oppo’s spin-off Realme, however, saw an 8 per cent YoY decline in shipments to 5.3 million units, making up for 11 per cent market share in the third quarter. It shipped 5.8 million units, representing a market share of 13 per cent, in Q3 2023.

“Brands outside the top five experienced another strong quarter,” said Chaurasia, adding that Apple drove “significant volumes” with the sale of iPhone 15 due to stronger demand coming from smaller cities ahead of the iPhone 16 launch. “Other brands, such as Motorola, Google, and Nothing, continue to drive volumes owing to strong pull factors from the unique design language, clean user interface, and channel expansion strategies.”