A few days ago, Canalys released its report on global smartphone sales in the third quarter of this year (July to September) and today it is back with a similar assessment, this time focused on the Indian smartphone market.
Overall, shipments in India fell 6% in Q3 2022 compared to the year-ago quarter, which Canalys speculates was due to weak demand for low-end units. Total shipments were 44.6 million units, down from 47.5 million in Q3 2021.
Xiaomi continues to lead the market with 9.2 million units shipped and a 21% market share, although both of these numbers are down from Q3 2022, when it shipped 11.2 million units and had 24% of the pie. In fact, four of the top five brands have seen both their shipments and their market share decline compared to a year ago.
The only exception to this trend is Oppo, which went from 6.2 million units sold and 13% market share in Q3 2021 to 7.1 million units sold and 16% market share in Q3 2022. That’s a healthy growth of 14% right there. Second-placed Samsung and third-placed vivo fell the least in terms of market share by 1% each, although the actual drop in shipment volume was 11% and 9%, respectively.
Xiaomi and realme fared the worst in terms of shipments, both seeing 18% fewer units sold than the year-ago quarter.
Canalys analyst Sanyam Chaurasia stated the following:
Entry-level device contribution declined this year, while the mid-to-high end segment fared relatively well thanks to aggressive campaigns. OPPO’s OnePlus and vivo’s iQOO were the two brands that drove mid-range growth in the e-commerce channel during this period. Smartphones in the ultra-premium category, especially older-generation flagships, also saw strong demand momentum amid price cuts. Samsung offered deep discounts on its older generation Galaxy Z Fold3 and the latest Galaxy S22 series in online and offline channels. Similarly, demand for the aggressively discounted iPhone 13 outpaced the latest iPhone 14, whose value proposition is very similar to the former.
