While Xiaomi dominates the Indian smartphone market, Oppo is the only major player to show growth

A few days ago, Canalys released a report detailing the third quarter (July–September) sales of smartphones around the world. Today, the company is back with a similar evaluation, this time focusing on the Indian smartphone market.

Overall shipments in India fell by 6% from the third quarter of 2021 to the same quarter the following year, according to research firm Canalys. This drop is likely attributable to weak demand for low-end devices. Total shipments amounted to 44.6 million units, down from 47.5 million in Q3 2021.

Xiaomi is still the market leader, with 9.2 million units shipped and a 21% market share. However, both of these numbers are down from Q3 2022, when it shipped 11.2 million devices and had 24% of the pie. In fact, shipments and market share for four of the top five brands have both gone down since last year.

The sole exception to this trend is Oppo, which went from 6.2 million units sold and 13% market share in Q3 2021 to 7.1 million units sold and 16% market share in Q3 2022. That’s a good growth rate of 14%. The market share of second-place Samsung and third-place vivo fell the least, by 1% each, even though their shipment volumes fell by 11% and 9%, respectively.

The two companies that fared worst in terms of shipping were Xiaomi and realme, both of which saw an 18% drop in sales when compared to the same period last year.

Sanyam Chaurasia, an analyst at Canalys, made the following claims:

Entry-level device contribution declined this year, while the mid-to-high segment performed relatively well thanks to aggressive promotions. OPPO‘s OnePlus and vivo’s iQOO were the two brands driving mid-range growth in the e-commerce channel during this period. Ultra-premium category smartphones, especially older generation flagships, also experienced strong demand momentum amid price cuts. Samsung offered deep discounts on its older generation Galaxy Z Fold3 and latest Galaxy S22 series in online and offline channels. Similarly, demand for the aggressively discounted iPhone 13 outstripped the latest iPhone 14, whose value proposition is very similar to the former.