Chinese Smartphone maker Xiaomi has become the undisputed leader in the smartphone market in India displacing the Samsung. The reason behind its No.1 position is that it has outshined Samsung in terms of sales in the Oct-Dec quarter of 2017. In Maharashtra alone, it has 13.7 per cent sales during the quarter. Xiaomi sold 31.2 per cent of the Smartphones during the period as compared to Samsung which sold 15.3 per cent. Redmi Note 4 was the key model behind the increase in sales of Xiaomi.

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Vivo, Oppo and Lenovo (including Motorola) were the other three players in the top 5 Smartphone sellers for Maharashtra in 4Q, 2017. Together top 5 sold more than 84% of the Smartphones.

The increase in the sales of Xiaomi smartphones were also due to replacements and upgrades where users shunned their existing Smartphones. Micromax (including Yu) amounted to over 26% of the Smartphones that were discontinued by users during the quarter. Intex, Karbonn, Sony Mobiles and iBall were the other brands in the top 5 losers. Collectively top 5 losers amounted to 66.5% of the Smartphones that were discontinued by users in Maharashtra during the period.

This switch from Indian brands to Chinese and global Tier I brand like Samsung is primarily driven by users upgrading for 4G Smartphones where the Indian brands haven’t been able to establish a foothold.

In the month of October and December, Xiaomi opened two Mi Homes in Maharashtra which strengthened its presence in the state.

Maharashtra registered a decrease of 362,420 subscribers as the net subscriber addition was negative during the quarter. The primary reason for the decrease was due to R-Com and Aircel subscriber reduction during 4Q 2017 in the state.

First Published:Mar 9, 2018 4:29 AM IST