Xiaomi ends Samsung six year dominance of Indian smartphone market - 10 things to know

It's official, Xiaomi is the new number 1 in the Indian smartpone market. According to latest data from research companies Counterpoint and Canalys, India’s smartphone market has finally seen a change at the top with Xiaomi emerging as the new numero uno. According to Canalys report Chinese vendor Xiaomi led the market in Q4 2017 with shipments close to 8.2 million units. Samsung on its part posted an annual growth of 17%, however, it failed to maintain its lead, shipping just over 7.3 million smartphones to take second place. Counterpoint Research's associate director Tarun Pathak said, “...During the second half, player such as Xiaomi was particularly disruptive with an aggressively-priced, broad portfolio taken to market with an effective channel expansion strategy. This helped Xiaomi to surpass the long-time market leader, Samsung, for the first time ever. This performance ended Samsung’s six year market dominance."
1. Xiaomi tops the market with 25% marketshare in Q4-2017 Xiaomi led the market with 25% marketshare during the fourth quarter of 2017 as per Counterpoint Research. Canalys puts the same figure at 27%.
2. Samsung stood at No. 2 with 23% marketshare during the same quarter According to Counterpoint Research, Samsung dropped to No. 2 position with 23% marketshare in the Q4-2017. Canalys puts Samsung's markestshare during the quarter at 25%.
3. Samsung still managed to retain its top position during the Calender Year 2017 with 24% marketshare Samsung, however, has managed to retain its numero uno position in the rankings for Calender Year 2017 (CY2017). As per Counterpoint Research, the company held 24% marketshare during the year 2017.
4. ​ Xiaomi stood at No. 2 position in CY2017 Xiaomi is at second position in Counterpoints's CY2017 rankings with 19% marketshare.
5. ​ Together the two companies held almost 50% marketshare According to both Couterpoint Research and Canalys, the two companies together held almost 50% share in the Indian smartphone market. While Canalys puts the combined marketshare at 52%, Counterpoint estimates it at 48%.
6. Other three players in the top 5 are Lenovo, Oppo and Vivo Xiaomi and Samsung are followed by Lenovo, Oppo and Vivo in the smartphone rankings. Interestingly, all three companies hold 6% marketshare. As for the CY2017, Vivo stands at third position (10%), followed by Oppo (8%) and Lenovo (7%) in the same order.
7. ​ Reliance Jio beat Samsung in featurephone market in Q4-2017 Samsung suffered another setback during the fourth quarter of the year 2017. The company also lost its top position in the feature phone market to Reliance Jio. Jio captured 26% share of the feature phone segment during the quarter vis-a-vis Samsung's 15% marketshare.
8. Samsung's loss is due to its inability to transform its sub-Rs 15,000 portfolio According to Canalys Research's analysts while Xiaomi’s persistence in the Indian market has paid off, Samsung's loss comes from its inability to transform its low-cost product portfolio. The company is said to have been unable to win over cost-conscious consumers, losing market share in the sub-Rs 15,000 segment to Xiaomi quarter after quarter.
9. Power struggle between Xiaomi and Samsung to continue in 2018 Analysts see the power struggle between the two smartphone brands continuing in 2018 as well. They see Samsung giving a tough fight to Xiaomi by revamping its low-cost portfolio.
10. Growth may be tough to come for Xiaomi in 2018 For Xiaomi, growth may not be that easy to come for Xiaomi. "As Xiaomi’s market share reaches saturation point in India, and the market continues to shrink in China, it must contend with slower growth for its smartphone business as it begins to expand in other countries," said Rushabh Doshi, analyst, Canalys.