India Smartphone Market Exits 2018 with Highest Ever Shipments

India Smartphone Market Exits 2018 with Highest Ever Shipments
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India smartphone market shipped 142.3 million units in 2018, registering a healthy 14.5% year-on-year (YoY) growth as compared to 2017, according to IDC. After a strong third quarter, the smartphone market saw a sequential decline of 15.1% in the next period owing to high channel inventory, but saw a healthy annual growth of 19.5%, driven primarily by multiple rounds of sales by e-tailers.

The offline channel had a rather muted year with a modest 6.7% annual growth in 2018 and growing 5.0% sequentially in 4Q18. The offline channel was unable to keep pace with the deep discounts and go-to-market initiatives from the e-tailers almost throughout the year. Offline remains the largest channel for mobile phone distribution in India and is crucial for the long-term success for any brand.

The overall smartphone average selling price remained flat in 2018 at US$158, with high shipments in the mass segment of US$100-US$200 which accounted for more than half of the smartphone market in India. The feature phone market, which makes up 56.0% of the total mobile phone market clocked 181.3 million-unit shipments in 2018, with 10.6% YoY growth. This was primarily driven by Jio Phone shipments through the year, contributing to 36.1% of overall feature phone shipments.

Xiaomi continued to dominate, growing YoY by 28.6% in 4Q18. The brand continued to lead in the online channel with a share of 47.2%, climbing to the second slot in the offline channel by surpassing Vivo in 2018Q4. Samsung remained in the second position, however with a YoY decline of 7.9% in 4Q18. The brand is expected to make a comeback with its new online exclusive “M series“ via flash sales.

vivo continued at 3rd position with high YoY growth of 79.6%. The brand continued to invest heavily in marketing and promotional activities and offering lucrative channel margins. Realme entered the top 5 vendor list at 4th position on the back of its affordable and aggressively priced Realme 2 and Realme 2 Pro series. OPPO continued at 5th position, with high YoY growth of 71.7%.