Xiaomi Continues to Lead the Indian Smartphone Market in Budget Segment

Xiaomi is the no.1 smartphone brand in the Indian market for the last six quarters. According to the latest report from Counterpoint, it continues to be in the no.1 spot even in Q1 2019. The popularity of the Redmi series and the increase in offline sales could have made Xiaomi the leading smartphone brand for the seventh consecutive quarter. Last month, the company introduced the Redmi Note 7 series in the Indian market. Now, it has sold over one million units of Redmi Note 7 and Redmi Note 7 Pro smartphones in the country.

However, the company for the first time in the last couple of years has seen a decline in its YoY market share. It might be due to the intense competition from brands like Samsung and Realme. By the end of Q1 2019, Xiaomi holds a 29% smartphone market share in India which is 2% lower than its market share in Q1 2018. Combining smartphones and features phones, Samsung occupies the top position. Last year’s Redmi 6A, Redmi Note 6 Pro, and Redmi Y2 are still the top-selling smartphones in the country.

Now, the newly launched Redmi 7 and Redmi Y3 smartphones should continue the company’s growth momentum. Xiaomi’s aggressive push in the offline segment is a major contributing factor for the company’s growth even with strong competition from other brands. The Redmi Note 7 Pro is the most affordable smartphone to offer a 48MP Sony IMX586 sensor. On the hand, the new Redmi Y3 priced under Rs 10,000 sports 32MP selfie camera. Even the Redmi 7 is the most affordable smartphone to offer Qualcomm’s custom Kryo CPU.

Unlike the Redmi smartphones, the company never launched more two to three Mi-branded smartphones in India. The Mi A2 launched in August 2018 is the last Mi smartphone to launch in the country. After the introduction of POCO brand, we don’t think the company will launch any flagship smartphones with Xiaomi branding. However, we might at least see mid-range smartphones launching under the Mi series. Xiaomi’s India head Manu Kumar Jian recently confirmed to launch a new Mi smartphone in India in May.

At the top of the summit yet again.  Xiaomi is once again the No. 1 Smartphone Brand in India as per @CounterPointTR's report for Q1 2019. This makes it 7 quarters in a row!

A big thanks to every Mi fan. pic.twitter.com/ZIs43cexqf

— Mi India #108MP IS COMING! (@XiaomiIndia) April 29, 2019

It is also teased to come powered by the all-new Snapdragon 700 series chipset. We expect it to be the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 730 Mobile Platform built on 8nm FinFET node. Talking about the device, it is rumored to be the upcoming Mi A3 Android One smartphone. Stay tuned on Phone Radar for more details