Mobile device maker Realme has overtaken South Korean giant Samsung to grab the second spot in the branded smartphone market, with 18 per cent volume share in October this year, revealed Counterpoint Research. Its rival Samsung ended October with 16 per cent share. Xiaomi (including its brand POCO) was at 20 per cent; Vivo at 13 per cent. The ascent brings Realme closer to its ambition to reach the No. 1 berth by 2022 when it hopes to sell over 40 million smartphones annually.
The Delhi high court on Wednesday allowed Chinese smartphone maker Vivo to operate its various bank accounts frozen by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money-laundering probe subject to furnishing of a bank guarantee of Rs 950 crore within a week with the agency. Justice Yashwant Varma also directed the company to give details to ED about its remittances and issued notice to the investigating agency on Vivo's plea seeking quashing of the order freezing its various bank accounts. ED contended that presently the proceeds of crime have been quantified to Rs 1200 crore.
Even if 5G is not launched by operators this year, the handsets market will certainly witness a strong supply ecosystem for 5G ready smartphones in 2021.
Vivo, a brand of BBK Communication Technology that makes smart devices such as 4G Xshot handset, is now set to enter the fastest-growing smartphone market in India with the first launch planned later this month.
India doubled its exports of smartphones to $11.1 billion (about Rs 91,000 crore) in 2022-23 (FY23) over the previous year's figure of $5.48 billion (Rs 45,000 crore), thanks largely to the Apple juggernaut, according to data from the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA). Union Minister for Communications, Electronics & IT Ashwini Vaishnaw said: "With the doubling of exports of smartphones to over Rs 90,000 crore, India is well on its way to becoming a leader in the global mobile device market." On the flip side, despite the government prodding Chinese companies to export more, their smartphone shipments fell steeply by 26 per cent from $214 million in FY22 to $157 million in FY23.
Chinese smartphone company Xiaomi led the Indian smartphone market during the April-June 2022 period despite a 22 per cent decline in its sales volume, a Cyber Media Research (CMR) report said on Thursday. Xiaomi stayed on top position with 20 per cent market share, followed by Samsung with 18 per cent share. The Korean phone maker, however, led the growth in 5G phone category with 28 per cent market share in that segment, according to the report.
A whopping Rs 62,476 crore has been "illegally" transferred by smartphone maker Vivo to China in order to avoid payment of taxes in India, the Enforcement Directorate said Thursday, as it claimed to have busted a major money laundering racket involving Chinese nationals and multiple Indian companies. This money is almost half of Vivo's turnover of Rs 1,25,185 crore, it said without stating the time period of the transaction. The crackdown on the leading Chinese company came after the federal probe agency found that three Chinese nationals, all of whom "left" India during 2018-21, and one other person from that country incorporated as many as 23 companies in India in which they were also helped by a Chartered Accountant, Nitin Garg.
Almost all smartphones are focusing more on the secondary or the 'selfie' camera.
Xiaomi topped the chart as the most sold smartphone brand by its users with 26 per cent share, followed by Apple (20 per cent), Samsung (16 per cent), Vivo, and Motorola (6 per cent each) among others, it said. Most smartphones sold by users were in the sub-Rs 10,000 brackets, it added. Among models, the iPhone 7 was the hottest selling model along with some other models as well as Redmi Note 4 and OnePlus 6 during the year. The number of smartphone repairs was the highest in Delhi in 2020.
These upcoming phones might have the coolest tech of 2018.
The industry is keeping a close watch to see if shuttered factories in China reopen in the coming days and supplies resume sometime this week.
"The premium global smartphone manufacturer bid Rs. 2199 crores, which is a 554 per cent increase over the previous contract. In the upcoming five IPL seasons (2018-2022), Vivo and IPL will have extensive cooperation in terms of sports events, on-ground activations and marketing campaigns," the BCCI said in a statement.
The sensor lies embedded underneath the OLED display which is almost invisible.
V1Max runs Vivo's FunTouch 2.1 operating system, which is based on Android 5.0 Lollipop.
Smartphone shipment in India declined by 10 per cent to hit a three-year low of 43 million shipment in the July-September 2022 period, market research firm International Data Corporation said on Monday. The 5G smartphone share reached 36 per cent of total smartphones during the reported quarter with 16 million units at a slightly higher average selling price of $393, about Rs 32,000, apiece compared to $377, about Rs 30,600, in the previous quarter. "India smartphone market declined 10 per cent year-over-year (YoY) shipping 43 million units in July-September 2022.
In the coming weeks, online retailers are expected to further raise the pitch with shopping festivals, discounts, and cashback offers.
In spite of being attacked from all corners, a faltering supply chain and negative sentiments soaring high among the local consumers, top Chinese smartphone brands gained market share during the most critical phase - the April-June quarter of this year.
Chinese mobile brands are deeply entrenched in the Indian market. A move to bar them may send a bold diplomatic message. But its cost for the local industry is anybody's guess. In the event that Chinese brands face curbs, two handset makers - Samsung and Apple - squarely stand to gain.
Lenovo, Xiaomi, Vivo, Gionee lead the onslaught, beating Indian and global brands with smart deals and astute image management measures.
But this could be shortlived as the rise has been buoyed on Chhattisgarh assembly poll freebies
While the 'Made in China' tag continues to be dominant as far as handsets in India go, things are beginning to change.
Set up in partnership with Compal Electronics, the facility in Greater Noida will have an initial capacity of 60,000 units a month. This will be ramped up to 2,00,000 by the end of December.
Streamlining its delivery network and shifting focus back to the mass segment - at a time when competitors were struggling to restore normalcy in operations due to the pandemi - aided the firm's revival.
Chinese smart devices firm Xiaomi's India head Muralikrishnan B has resigned from the company to pursue his interest in academic research, the company said on Monday. He will continue to support Xiaomi India as an independent Strategic Advisor, the company said. "Muralikrishnan B, the current President of Xiaomi India, will be transitioning out of his role at the end of the year.
The first half of the year (H1-2020) was marked by sluggish growth with demand down 26 per cent YoY, while the second half saw recovery. H2-2020 recovered with 19 per cent YoY growth, reports Shivani Shinde.
Market grew 15% YoY in June quarter, sharply lower from 23% in previous quarter and 34% in the same quarter of 2015
Counterpoint Research estimates that Xiaomi will end CY23 with a volume market share in CY23 to 15 per cent, pushing the Chinese company, which has faced numerous challenges and scrutiny from investigative agencies, to the third place.
Amid the protests against leading e-commerce firms, Flipkart and Amazon, shipments through the online route in fact witnessed a double-digit growth every quarter.
Demonetisation impacted the smartphone market at almost all levels, including customer demand and stock movement in distribution channels.
The onslaught of Chinese mobile brands is virtually obliterating Indian brands, especially in terms of value. According to industry estimates based on excise and Custom duty trends, the value share of Indian brands (across smartphones and feature phones, operator phone sales - which is mostly Jio phones - and the value of phones smuggled into the country) has dropped to a mere 1.2 per cent in January-October 2021 compared to 25.4 per cent in the calendar year 2015. In the same period, the Chinese have established their domination, hitting a value share of 64.5 per cent, up from 17.8 per cent.
Bharti Airtel on Thursday said its 5G services have gone live in eight cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Siliguri, Nagpur and Varanasi. The customer availing 5G services will have to pay as per their existing 4G plan, it said. "Airtel has been at the forefront of India's telecom revolution for the last 27 years.
To escape backlash, handset makers of all major Chinese brands who have their own manufacturing lines in India or outsource from third party vendors here have decided to highlight Made-in-India in their packaging more prominently from now.
Shipments of 5G smartphones spurted by 74 per cent in 2022 even as overall mobile phone shipments declined by 8 per cent in the year, CyberMedia Research said on Tuesday. According to the CyberMedia Research (CMR) report, Xiaomi led the overall smartphone market with a 21 per cent market share while Samsung led in the shipment of 5G smartphones with a 23 per cent market share. Driven by a resilient consumer appetite to switch and upgrade, the premium smartphone market continued to gain traction, the report said.
In 2015, as many as 15 major Chinese smartphone brands stepped into India.
The once-popular brand plans to try its luck in the smartphone market with reliability as its key proposition.
Similar discounts compared to online led to a spike in demand for offline, where customers can get a more personal and hands-on product experience.
After six weeks into the second half, the faltering offline channel, which traditionally rakes in 60 per cent of sales for the market, has become the biggest hurdle towards the path of revival.
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, recently stated that he sees India in the same position that China was seven to ten years ago
The smartphone category as a whole was expected to spend around Rs 1,000 crore on marketing and promotional activities over the next six months, even as India unlocks gradually, said media industry experts. This spending is expected to come down, as firms temper their launches.
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