India’s smartphone shipment grew 23 percent year-on-year (YoY) to reach over 38 million units in Q1 2021, says a new report from market research firm Counterpoint. Xiaomi led the pack with a 26 percent market share, but Samsung grew the highest at 52 percent YoY among the top 5 brands. Counterpoint said that five out of 10 models shipped in the country were from Xiaomi. OnePlus led 5G smartphone shipments in Q1 2021 with a 33 percent share in the segment, while Realme was lauded as the cheapest 5G offering in Q1 2021.
According to Counterpoint’s latest report on Indian smartphone shipments in Q1 2021, Xiaomi has come out on top once again. While Xiaomi grabbed the highest market share of 26 percent, it managed only a 4 percent YoY growth in Q1 2021, largely driven by the Redmi 9 series. Counterpoint says Redmi 9A was the best-selling model during the quarter, alongside the Mi 10i that also performed well.
Samsung, on the other hand, saw the highest year-on-year growth among the top five brands at 52 percent in Q1 2021, driven by its focus on the budget segment with the new Galaxy M02 series and many other new launches. It had a 20 percent market share in Q1 2021. The refreshed Galaxy A- and Galaxy M-series have been performing well, Counterpoint said, adding that Samsung benefitted from launching the Galaxy S21 flagship series earlier than its normal launch period.
The other three smartphone brands that make up the top five include Vivo, Realme, and Oppo. Vivo grew 16 percent YoY and held the third position in Q1 2021. Realme declined 4 percent YoY in Q1 2021 but managed to maintain its fourth position with an 11 percent market, while OPPO grew 12 percent YoY and also managed an 11 percent market share in Q1 2021, according to Counterpoint.
While Apple didn’t rank in the top five brands for most smartphone shipments in India in Q1 2021, the company continued to carry forward its momentum from Q4 2020. It witnessed a 207 percent YoY growth in Q1 2021, according to the report. And the brand maintained its leading position in the premium segment with an almost 48 percent share, led by strong demand for the iPhone 11 and aggressive offers on the iPhone SE (2020). Counterpoint said that Apple has registered more than 1 million shipments for two consecutive quarters for the first time.
OnePlus also grew more than 300 percent YoY for Q1 2021 driven by the OnePlus Nord, which was the best-selling 5G smartphone during the quarter, and the OnePlus 8T shipments, according to the report.