Xiaomi has dethroned Samsung from the position of having the largest smartphone market share in India in Q4 2017 and has become the number one brand, according to a report by Cybermedia Research. Xiaomi has acquired 13.7% of the sales during the last quarter of 2017. According to the CMR report, Xiaomi has sold over 32 percent of the total smartphone sales compared to Samsung who sold only 15.3%.
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 was the best selling smartphone at the time and the company has also opened two new stores in October and November 2017, called Mi Homes. The offline sales is strengthening Xiaomi’s presence in the smartphone market, in January 2018, Xiaomi opened another Mi Home store in Thane.
Talking about the top smartphone brands other than Samsung and Xiaomi according to the sales are – Vivo, Oppo, and Lenovo (including Motorola). Altogether, these top 5 companies sold over 84 percent of total smartphones. The Q4 was a bit negative for Maharashtra which registered the loss of 362,420 subscribers, the sales were mainly for replacement or upgrade.
This loss of subscribers was primarily due to the R-Com and Aircel users reduction in the fourth quarter in 2017 in the state. Xiaomi’s sales were mainly in form of replacement or upgrades which let the user replace their existing smartphones. Micromax, including YU has lost the most users (26%) who switched to other brands. The other brands in top 5 loss list are Intex, Karbonn, Sony Mobiles and iBall which were being replaced.
