India Smartphone Shipments Fall 5 Percent YoY in Q3, Xiaomi Continues to Lead: Canalys

Due to supply issues in low-end models, smartphone shipments in India fell by 5 percent year on year in Q3 2021, Canalys reports. However, compared to Q2 2021, the shipments were 47 percent higher in the third quarter. The analyst firm notes that Xiaomi continued to be the highest shipment vendor in India with 11.2 million units and 24 percent market share. Samsung reportedly came in second with 9.1 million units shipments and 19 percent of the Indian market share. Canalys says that the top five vendors included Vivo, Realme, and Oppo as well.

Canalys latest report on India's Q3 smartphone shipments suggests that while the year-on-year shipments fell by 5 percent to 47.5 million units, a sequential growth was witnessed from the last quarter as the country continues its recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Xiaomi's annual shipments reportedly decreased by 14 percent in Q3 2021 as it shipped 11.2 million units, as compared to 13.1 million units in the same quarter last year. Its market share also is said to reduce from 26 percent in Q3 2020 to 24 percent in Q3 2021. However, Canalys says that Xiaomi continued to remain in the lead as Samsung came in second with 9.1 million shipments and 19 percent market share, as compared to 20 percent market share in the same quarter last year.

According to the research firm, Vivo came in third with 8.1 million smartphone shipments raking in 17 percent of the market share. Realme, on the other hand, took the fourth position with 7.5 million shipments and 16 percent market share. Oppo was the last in the top five list with 6.2 million shipments and 13 percent market share. The overall smartphone shipments in Q3 2020 were reported to be 50 million units, and that went down to 47.5 million in the third quarter this year.

Canalys credits low-end model supply constraints for the fall in year-on-year smartphone shipments. Canalys Analyst Sanyam Chaurasia adds, “Brands have been forced to use promotions to make their high-end models more appealing. These challenges will persist into Q4, and high component and logistics costs, together with container shortages will result in longer lead times and higher retail prices.”