Canalys: Xiaomi Ranks First in Indian Smartphone Market in 2021

Canalys, a research organization, released the list of smartphone sales in India in 2021 on Tuesday. Xiaomi ranked first, Samsung ranked second, followed by Vivo, realme and OPPO.

The smartphone market in India witnessed a record 162 million shipments in 2021, growing 12% from 2020. In 2021, Xiaomi shipped 40.5 million smartphones, accounting for 25% of the country’s market share, while Samsung’s held 19%. Among the top five brands in sales volume, only Vivo saw a decline, down 4% year-on-year. The fastest growing brand is realme, witnessing an increase of 25% year-on-year.

Xiaomi led the pack in the fourth quarter last year, shipping 9.3 million units and maintaining its 21% market share. Samsung came second with 8.5 million units with a 19% share. For the first time realme climbed to third place in India, with a 49% year-on-year increase in volume that reached 7.6 million shipments. Fourth and fifth place were taken by Vivo and OPPO, with 5.6 million and 4.9 million units respectively.

“India’s smartphone market dynamics shifted every quarter in 2021,” said Canalys Analyst Sanyam Chaurasia. “The COVID-19 crises, volatile consumer demand and supply chain disruptions plagued the market this year. Vendors adapted to the changing environment by focusing on multiple channels, diversifying their supply chains, and expanding their product offerings.”

Chaurasia added, “For example, vendors like realme and Samsung diversified chipset configurations to effectively manage supply. realme’s record shipment total was made possible by innovations in planning and stock management which led to a good supply of mass-market smartphones such as the Narzo 50A and C11. At the same time, thanks to the vaccination rollout, market reopening and pent-up demand, smartphone shipments reached all-time highs for the entire year. Growth is expected to continue in 2022, driven by both replacement demand and new customers migrating to smartphones.”

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According to the data released by CAICT, the rank of domestic smartphone brands in terms of sales volume in 2021 goes in the order of OPPO, Vivo, Apple, Xiaomi and Honor. With the popularity of the iPhone 13 series in the fourth quarter, the annual sales volume of Apple surpassed Xiaomi.