Canalys: India's smartphone shipments reached 35.3 million units in Q1 2024, a year-on-year increase of 15%

The latest research from Canalys shows that the Indian smartphone market maintained its strong performance in the first quarter of 2024, reaching 35.3 million units. Supplier inventory conditions improved in 2024, allowing the channel to accept multiple new products launched in the quarter. The market grew 15% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2023 from a low base due to inflationary pressures, weak demand and inventory issues.

Samsung maintained its first position with a 19% market share and 6.7 million units shipped in the first quarter of 2024. Driven by its ongoing mass-market 5G strategy, Xiaomi took second place with 6.4 million units shipped. Vivo ranked third with 6.2 million units shipped. OPPO (excluding OnePlus) and realme rounded out the top five with 3.7 million and 3.4 million units shipped, respectively.

Canalys senior analyst Sanyam Chaurasia said: "While most brands achieved double-digit growth in the first quarter, brands outside the top five continued to challenge the market share of leading brands. Vendors' price adjustments and promotional strategies at the end of the fourth quarter of 2023 helped inventory management in the first quarter. The Republic Day sales in January accelerated the momentum, and brands used promotions to promote their latest products. Samsung Electronics' latest flagship product 'Galaxy S24' sold higher than the previous product, thanks to upgrade offers, Samsung Finance+ and extensive marketing of artificial intelligence features. Xiaomi achieved a strong recovery in the first quarter, driven by the Redmi 13C 5G and Redmi Note 13 5G series and POCO's early launch of the X6 series. OPPO's sales volume declined slightly, streamlining its product portfolio and reducing new product launches in the mid-to-high price range."