China phone makers have conquered the Indian smartphone market in the fourth quarter of 2016, according to Canalys Analyst Rushabh Doshi.
India phone makers such as Micromax, Intex, Lava, etc. are out of the top five list of smartphone makers in India during Q4 2016.
In Q4 2015, Micromax, Intex and Lava took second, third and fifth place, accounting for almost 30 percent of the market. One year on and all three vendors have dropped out of the top five, with their collective share falling to around 11 percent.
Canalys said Indian smart phone vendors were pushed out of the top five as Chinese phone vendors continued to grab market share with price-competitive devices. Local vendors have also been hit hard by the Indian government’s decision to demonetize the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 ($7.3 and $14.65) banknotes.
“Local brands’ target customers typically buy in cash and from independent retailers. With the short-term liquidity crunch caused by demonetization, these retailers are suffering a slowdown in consumer spending. Local vendors are losing out as retailers look to shift their stock to fast-moving, current devices,” said Canalys Analyst Rushabh Doshi.
Samsung continues to lead the market with shipments of around 6.2 million units and a 22 percent share, in line with the previous quarter.
Second-placed Xiaomi’s focus on Indian expansion continued to pay off as it reached the 3.0-million-unit mark, growing by more than 230 percent.
Oppo was the best-performing vendor in the top five, shipping 2.6 million units, up from 150,000 a year ago, and a 150 percent increase from the previous quarter.
Lenovo finished fourth with just under 2.6 million units shipped, followed by Vivo, which shipped just over 2 million smart phones.
