The smartphone market in India experienced a surge in the first quarter of 2024 and posted an 11.5% year-on-year shipment increase. Amid this growth, Samsung lost its leadership over the smartphone market in India to Vivo but almost beat Apple in the premium sector, perhaps reflecting the company's ambitions to compete closer to Apple.
Market intelligence firm IDC attributed this 11.5% growth in Q1 to “several new launches across multiple price segments.” The market watcher says India shipped 34 million smartphones in the first quarter and that Q1 was the third consecutive quarter on an upward shipment trajectory.
Samsung almost beat Apple in the premium segment
In terms of total shipments, Vivo climbed to the top in Q1 with a 16.2% market share, while Samsung dropped to 2nd place with a share of 15.6%, down from 20.1% a year ago.
As far as the premium smartphone segment is concerned, which consists of phones that cost between $600 and $800, Apple's share declined to 45% year-on-year, while Samsung managed to increase its share from 16% a year ago to 44%, almost beating Apple. This outcome might be the result of Samsung's new strategy to compete with Apple more fiercely.
Samsung also came second in the super-premium segment, which consists of phones priced at $800 or higher. The super-premium segment posted the highest growth of 44%.
However, the gap between Samsung and Apple was larger in the super-premium segment. Apple led with a 69% share, and popular models included the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus, as well as the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus.
Samsung secured 2nd place with a 31% market share. Indian customers leaned toward the Galaxy S23, Galaxy S24, Galaxy S24+, and Galaxy S24 Ultra.
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5G smartphone shipments also grew in India in Q1. This segment increased to 69% market share, up from 46% a year ago. In total, 23 million 5G smartphones shipped in India in the first quarter. The Galaxy A15 was among the most popular 5G phones.
In the top 10 smartphone brand ranking, Motorola experienced the highest growth of 110% year-on-year. However, its shipment market share in Q1 was a mere 4.6%, up from 2.4% a year ago. Motorola was the 9th largest phone manufacturer ahead of Tecno.
India's average selling price for all smartphone segments combined didn't go up or down year-on-year or quarter-on-quarter. It stayed at $263.
