Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Highest Shipped Smartphone in India, Says IDC

Market research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) has come out with its quarterly mobile phone tracker which claims that Xiaomi's Redmi Note 4 was the highest shipped smartphone in Q1.

Apart from phone shipments, IDC's latest data also revealed that Indian smartphone market saw a healthy 14.8 percent growth in shipments over the same period last year. IDC's quarterly mobile phone tracker said that 27 million smartphones were shipped in India in Q1 2017.

The firm adds that for the first time, a smartphone from a China-based company became the highest shipped smartphone. Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 replaced Samsung Galaxy J2, which was the top model in Q4 2016.

The Chinese handset vendors, continuing their form since Q4 2016, again dominated the Indian smartphone market with Xiaomi, Vivo, Lenovo, and Oppo making it to the top five. Samsung, however, remained on top with 28.1 percent market share. Xiaomi was at second spot with 14.2 percent market share while Vivo attained the third spot with a percent of 10.5 percent. Lenovo and Oppo were fourth and fifth vendors with market share of 9.5 and 9.3 percent respectively.

For Samsung, IDC says that multiple launches in Q1 2017 including J2 series, C9, and A-series (2017 version) contributed over a million units. Xiaomi managed to retain second spot thanks to the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 and Xiaomi Redmi 4A launches. IDC adds that the launches also helped the company to lead online smartphone shipments with 40.6 percent share.

Vivo surpassed Lenovo and Oppo to become third, and was strengthened by launches in around $150 price segment. Lenovo remained flat in the quarter as the company struggled with its expansion for presence in the offline channel. Oppo is claimed to grew 14 percent in Q1 2017 over the previous quarter, and almost doubled over the same period last year.

The latest data also claims an increase in ASP (average selling price) of smartphones which is said to increase from $131 (roughly Rs. 8,500) in Q1 2016 to $155 (roughly Rs. 10,000) in Q1 2017. "Almost two-third smartphones sold by China-based vendors are in the price range of $100 (roughly Rs. 6,500) to $200 (roughly Rs. 13,000) in India. It has shifted the mass segment which used be the less than $100 to $100 to $200 in India contributing almost half of smartphone shipments in Q1 2017," said IDC.

Some of other statistics derived from the new IDC data include 94.5 percent smartphones shipped were 4G-enabled in Q1 2017 and roughly 5 out of 10 smartphones shipped in Q1 2017 had 13-megapixel and more as primary/rear camera. The new data also claims that there has been a decline in number of smartphones featuring less than 5-inch screen reduced to 21.2 percent in Q1 2017 from 40.3 percent in Q1 2016.

"The focus of China-based vendors remains on bigger screens, 9 out of 10 smartphones shipped by China-based vendors were 5-inch and above in Q1 2017," said IDC's data.

"Though, homegrown vendors are making attempts to recapture the lost ground with new launches in sub-US$100 as well as in the mid-range segment. But intense competition from China-based vendors continues to be a major challenge and is expected to increase in coming quarters. Recovery of homegrown vendor is necessary for Indian smartphone market not only to fill-in the vacuum created for last few quarters but also to fuel the feature phone to smartphone migration," said Jaipal Singh , Market Analyst, Client Devices, IDC India.