On a global scale, Samsung sold more smartphones than all of its competition, including Apple and Xiaomi. However, the story is quite different in the world's second-largest smartphone market: India, where Xiaomi continues to reign supreme. The situation was no different in Q4, 2021, according to data obtained by market research firm Counterpoints.
Realme closes in on Xiaomi's lead at Samsung's expense
Realme's aggressive product launch strategy seems to have worked out, as it managed to eat into some of Xiaomi's market share. On the other hand, Samsung's market share dropped from 20% in 2020 to 16% in 2021. Counterpoint Research opines that this is due to Samsung's reduced focus on the budget and mid-range segment.
Interestingly enough, Samsung's 2021 palette was quite diverse with a wide range of smartphones available across all imaginable price points. Samsung even beat Xiaomi by launching the most phones in India in 2021, which may have been its undoing.
Samsung continues to dominate the mobile handset market
The situation is quite different when we take into account all mobile handsets. Samsung has the lead over there (not a very commanding one, but still a lead) thanks to its feature phones. It isn't surprising, given that many Chinese OEMs don't sell feature phones in India. Transsion Holdings' iTel emerges from the shadows, too.
Feature phones may be a dying breed in many markets, but they still find takers in India. Even though low-cost (Rs 5,000/$70) smartphones are somewhat commonplace, many are unable/unwilling to buy one. However, feature phone sales figures are little more than rounding errors compared to smartphones, so they don't really mean much.
Although Samsung managed to keep its lead over Vivo, Realme and Oppo in 2021, Xiaomi managed to get further ahead with a 6% market share difference compared to last year's 5%. OnePlus sold significantly more smartphones this time around; as did Apple. Smaller players like Tecno and Itel saw increased demand, too, as reflected in the “Others” section of the above graph.
Counterpoints Research notes that Samsung sold the most 5G-ready smartphones in Q4, 2021. Demand for its ultra-high-end foldables such as the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 grew by a whopping 388%. It'll be interesting to see Samsung's strategy for 2022 which could include a lot more 5G-ready smartphones, given that 5G services could roll out at select locations in late 2022.
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