Results in the June quarter were influenced by changing consumer behaviour and the shift to the contactless shopping experience, as online channels accounted for 43% of smartphone sales in India. Overall smartphone sales were observed on Amazon.in with 47% market share, is the leading e-commerce platform. Flipkart.com sold 50% of smartphones in the sub Rs 10,000 segment, based on Counterpoint’s latest quarterly report.
Next to Amazon, Flipkart and Xiaomi’s online store were the other leading online platforms for smartphone sales accounting for 42% and 10% market share, respectively.
During the June quarter, Xiaomi Redmi 8A Dual was the highest-selling smartphone, featuring six out of the top ten online models, three others belonging to Samsung.
Looking at online smartphone shipment market share, Xiaomi remained the market leader with 44% market share, down from 44% in Q2 2019. Samsung was the fastest growing brand in June quarter, accounting for 25% market as compared to 11% in Q2 2019. In the premium segment, OnePlus with 50% share was the market leader, followed by Apple with 25% share.
Growth on a quarter on quarter (QoQ) basis was noted through online sales, but it dropped 46% year on year (YoY). The offline segment fell by 54% YoY.
“Covid-19 had a huge impact on the overall smartphone market, April being a washout month. Online channels’ shipments also declined compared to the last year. However, due to the current circumstances, consumers prefer online platforms. We have already witnessed pre-covid-19 level shipments at the end of Q2 20 due to the pent-up demand created in the market by the nationwide lockdown,” Prachir Singh, senior research analyst, Counterpoint said in a statement.
Singh points out that brands are changing their channel strategies and products to drive up volumes in the new normal. Multiple financing options and attractive offers have made the devices more affordable for consumers. Also many brands adopted an online-to-offline (O2O) business model and hyperlocal delivery to help their offline channel partners.