The fierce competition in the Indian smartphone space that we see today is a result of Chinese brands foraying into the country with competitive products. From a time when smartphones were a luxury item to becoming a household necessity, India has come a long way and it now holds a crucial spot in the global mobile industry. The change in trend has generously favoured Chinese smartphone brands in India.
According to a report by The Economic Times, Indian consumers have spent more than Rs 50,000 crore on Chinese mobiles in FY18. The number has nearly doubled since the previous fiscal year and the trend is likely to continue, analysts and industry executives said.
Of all the Chinese phone makers dominating the Indian smartphone space, analysts identified four such brands that hoarded the highest revenue. With Xiaomi leading the charts with Rs 22,947 crore in smartphone sales, other brands like Oppo, Vivo, Huawei's Honor, Lenovo's Motorola and OnePlus, contributed towards more than half of the total Indian smartphone sales in FY18.
These brands are also witnessing staggering growth each year. A spokesperson for Huawei said that its Honor brand registered 281 percent growth in the first half of 2018. Oppo Mobiles and Vivo made Rs 11,994 crore and Rs 11,179 crore during FY18, respectively. If the trend continues, these Chinese mobile OEMs can challenge giants like Apple, which had posted Rs 13,097 crore in FY18.
Samsung's FY18 statistics haven't been revealed, but the company's smartphone sales in FY17 were recorded at Rs 34,261. It faces stiff competition from Xiaomi, which started off 2018 by continuously putting Samsung behind with a higher market share in Q1 2018.
Even though Chinese smartphone brands have a different approach, they all have a common ideology of offering premium features at disruptive prices. While Xiaomi has successfully broken into the budget to mid-range space, OnePlus is a brand that has accomplished a great deal in the premium space largely dominated by Samsung and Apple smartphones.
Even as these Chinese phone makers continue to flourish in India, the country's "Make in India" initiative helps create more jobs for the locals. For instance, Vivo employees over 5,000 people in its manufacturing plant and Oppo has two manufacturing units in the country. Xiaomi has also advocated India's local manufacturing push since the early days, largely contributing towards creating jobs in India. The company also plans to invest Rs 15,000 in April, the report added.
