Apple Wins Big, Samsung Takes a Hit: Indian Smartphone Market In Q3 2024

India is the second-largest smartphone market in the world by shipment volumes, after China. In the third quarter of 2024, smartphone shipments in India reached 46 million units. Vivo continued to be the top smartphone brand in India with a 15.8 per cent market share, whereas OnePlus secured the last spot with a 3.6 per cent market share, according to a report from the International Data Corporation (IDC).

However, the biggest winner of this quarter was Apple. The third quarter, i.e. from 1 July to 30 September, accounted for festive season sales on major e-commerce platforms like Flipkart and Amazon. The IDC report reveals that Indian consumers purchased iPhones in large quantities during this period.

On the other hand, Oppo overtook Samsung to become the second-largest smartphone brand in India with a 13.9 per cent market share.

Things have been going well for the BBK group this quarter!

In this article, we do a detailed analysis of the BBK group and examine which brands actually had a good festive season and which didn’t.

BBK Group shines, but OnePlus loses

The BBK Group comprises Vivo, Oppo, Realme, iQOO and OnePlus. In the third quarter of 2024, Vivo claimed the top spot, whereas Oppo secured second place. Realme also attempted to break into the top five.

Oppo dominated the mid-range segment, i.e. the INR 15,000 to INR 35,000 price range, by selling smartphones like the Oppo A3x, Oppo K12x and Reno 12 series. Vivo also performed well in this segment by selling its Y-series devices, T3 and V40 series, retaining its crown in the Indian smartphone market.

OnePlus, one of the most prominent brands in the BBK group, directly targets Apple and Samsung in India. However, it recorded around a 40 per cent year-on-year decline and managed only a 3.6 per cent market share. This is surprising since OnePlus recorded strong sales last year.

According to a report, the OnePlus 12 was selling well and was one of the top-selling premium phones in India. This suggests that the problem may lie with OnePlus' budget and mid-range smartphones, such as the Nord 4, Nord CE 4 and Nord CE 4 Lite 5G.

The specifications offered by the Nord series soon became outdated, which could be a major reason why buyers opted for competitors’ products. OnePlus is expected to take feedback from its community to recover the market share it lost to its rivals.

What happened to Samsung and Xiaomi?

Samsung took the second-biggest hit this quarter after OnePlus, slipping to third place with a 12.3 per cent market share. The Korean brand, which dominated India's smartphone market for the past three years, has been declining since it lost the top spot to Vivo.

According to the All India Mobile Retailers Association (AIMRA), a body representing 1.5 lakh offline smartphone retailers, Samsung’s decline can be attributed to various factors, including its disconnect with retailers, the exodus of employees to Chinese companies, low profitability for organised retailers, and a confused sales strategy.

Xiaomi also fell to fifth position with an 11.4 per cent market share. The Redmi 13C was the highest-selling 5G phone in India during this quarter. However, Xiaomi failed to create significant hype among Indian users with its current lineup.

Now that it has recognised that budget 5G consumers are its target audience, Xiaomi is launching the cheapest 5G smartphone in India, the Redmi A4 5G, in the coming days.

Is Apple targeting a top 3 spot in India?

If there’s one brand that gained the most this quarter in India, it has to be Apple. The iPhone 15 and iPhone 13 were the highest-selling smartphones in the premium segment, thanks to significant discounts during the Flipkart Big Billion Days and Amazon Great Indian Festival Sales.

It was also Apple’s biggest quarter in terms of shipments, with the Cupertino-based tech giant shipping nearly four million devices. This helped it widen its lead over Samsung in the premium segment.

All this points to one conclusion: Indians are buying iPhones at an all-time high. This surge in Apple’s popularity will pose a tough challenge for Android brands, given Apple’s strong brand loyalty among its consumers.

The Indian smartphone market continues to grow

The Indian smartphone market saw positive growth in Q3 2024, with a 5.6 per cent year-on-year increase. The country shipped 46 million smartphone units this quarter, driven by festive season sales.

The Indian smartphone market is expected to end the year with single-digit annual growth compared to last year. In Q4 2024, flagship brands are likely to shine as the sale period concludes. Brands are now focusing aggressively on launching flagship smartphones, such as the Realme GT 7 Pro and iQOO 13.