Chinese behemoth BBK Group, the parent company of OPPO, Vivo, Realme and OnePlus brands, dominated the India smartphone market with 37 percent share for the full year 2019, compared to 28 per cent of Xiaomi, reveals latest data from Counterpoint Research.

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In the fourth quarter of 2019, the BBK Group captured a mammoth 43 percent share in the India smartphone market while Xiaomi had a 27 percent share.

While Vivo's market share grew to 16 percent in the calendar year 2019 from 10 percent in 2018, Realme's share grew to 10 percent in 2019 from 3 percent in 2018, OPPO's share grew to 9 percent in 2019 from 8 percent in 2018.

With 29 percent growth in market share, OnePlus also became one of the fastest-growing smartphone brands in India in 2019. While Realme grew a massive 255 percent in 2019, Vivo registered 76 percent growth and OPPO 28 percent,

In comparison, Xiaomi grew 5 percent year-over-year in 2019 driven by expansion in the offline and strong performance of its Redmi Note series.

"India now has emerged as the biggest market for Xiaomi, surpassing its home market China in 2019. However, the growth rate has declined to single-digit as Xiaomi is now serving a much larger installed base in India," according to the data.

Vivo's stunning growth in 2019 was driven by the good performance of its budget-segment series. "Also, by successfully pivoting to online and aggressively positioning the S series in the offline segment with new features, it managed to make a dent in Rs 15,000-Rs 20,000 segment," said Counterpoint.

Overall, in the fourth quarter of 2019, the BBK group captured a mammoth 43 percent share in the India smartphone market. Interesting here to note is that the BBK Group does not seem to be resting on its laurels.

This year, the group has infused another brand called iQOO in the competitive Indian market that will be the first, 5G-ready premium device in the country and would take on Xiaomi's new sub-brand POCO.

The iQOO brand -- which already has six devices in its portfolio in China with the most recent one being the iQOO Neo 855 Racing -- would work as a separate legal entity in the country.

With this brand, the BBK Group will now have five brands -- OnePlus, Vivo, OPPO, Realme and now iQOO -- to take on its rivals in India in 2020.

"We aim to sell 10 lakh iQOO devices next month in India. It will be 100 per cent 'Make in India' premium device focused on strong performance, design innovation and 5G-ready," Gagan Arora, Director-Marketing, iQOO India, recently told IANS.

First Published:Jan 25, 2020 4:14 PM IST