Chinese smartphone brands take more than half of Indian market

SHANGHAI - Chinese smartphone brands took more than half of India’s market for the first time in this year’s first quarter, using their experience in relatively high-quality, low-end models to steal share from homegrown players.

The Chinese brands took 51.4% of the market in the first three months of the year, a gain of 16.9% from the fourth quarter and more than double their share from a year ago, according to IDC.

South Korea’s Samsung Electronics led the market in the quarter with 28.1% share, but all other names among the top five brands came from China, including Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo, and Lenovo.

Chinese brands have been flocking to India over the last three years, hoping to replicate their success from their home market where they now dominate, says a report in Caixin.

Most have capitalised on their expertise in low-end models that can sell for the equivalent of US$100 or less, an important factor in a highly price-sensitive market. To further lower their costs, a growing number of Chinese brands are also setting up manufacturing facilities in India.  www.webershandwick.cn (ATI).