India Smartphone Shipments Rise 3 Percent YoY in Q3, Samsung Retains Top Spot: Counterpoint Research

Smartphone shipments in India grew 3 percent year-on-year (YoY) for the July-September period (Q3) in 2024, reveals a new report by market research firm Counterpoint. The overall value of smartphones grew by 12 percent in the same quarter compared to last year. Samsung continued to lead the smartphone market with a 23 percent market share, while Apple came in a close second spot, followed by Vivo. Other Chinese smartphone brands claimed fourth and fifth positions in the list. The festival sales and new launches directed the positive growth in Q3.

Indian Smartphone Market Hits Record Value in Q3 2024

Counterpoint's Monthly India Smartphone Tracker report reveals that the country's smartphone volume grew by 3 percent YoY in Q3 2024, while its value surged by an impressive 12 percent YoY to reach a record for a single quarter. Like in previous quarters, Samsung got a major share of India's smartphone shipments and maintained its top position in Q3 with a market share of 23 percent. Integration of Galaxy AI features into its mid-range and affordable premium models in the A series helped the South Korean brand boost sales.

In terms of smartphone market value share, iPhone maker Apple grabbed 21.6 percent of the market share thanks to shipments of the iPhone 15, and iPhone 16 models ahead of the festival season in India. Vivo followed Apple at the third position with a 15.5 percent market share. Vivo's BBK siblings Oppo and Xiaomi came in fourth and fifth positions, respectively. Oppo had a 10.8 percent percent market share, while Xiaomi received an 8.7 percent market volume share.

The report notes that the ongoing premiumisation trend fueled the value growth and earlier onset of the festival season driver the volume growth. “The market is increasingly shifting toward value growth, fueled by a premiumisation trend, which, in turn, is supported by aggressive EMI offers and trade-ins," said Counterpoint's senior research analyst Prachir Singh.

In terms of volume share, Vivo reclaimed the top spot with a 19 percent share, followed by Xiaomi with 17 percent. Samsung, Oppo and Realme came in the third, fourth and fifth positions, respectively. As per the report, Oppo emerged as the fastest-growing brand among the top five.

The Counterpoint report points out that Carl Pei's Nothing was the fastest-growing smartphone brand for the third consecutive quarter, recording a 510 percent YoY growth in shipments this quarter. The UK brand entered the top 10 for the first time in this quarter.

Motorola recorded 87 percent YoY growth in the same quarter. Further, the report states that 5G smartphones achieved their highest-ever share of 81 percent in overall shipments. In the Rs. 10,001 - Rs. 15,000 segments, 5G penetration reached 93 percent.