Samsung is losing ground fast against Chinese brands in India

Consumers are getting more and more price conscious when buying smartphones, especially in India. Although Samsung still holds the number one spot in terms of sales in the country, its market share is decreasing.

According to a report from the technology research company Counterpoint, Samsung is losing the battle against low-cost Chinese brands in India. The tech giant’s market share was 21 percent back in November 2016 — latest data available — which is 9 percentage points less when compared with roughly the same period in 2015.

Meanwhile, the market share of Chinese brands including Lenovo, OnePlus, Gionee and Xiaomi has grown quite substantially. Counterpoint reports that these companies have a combined market share of 50 percent in India, compared to just 19 percent a year ago.

What’s more, in the $120 to $440 smartphone segment, Chinese smartphone manufacturers have more than doubled their presence in India with a 68 percent market share. Samsung’s market share, on the other hand, decreased by 14 percentage points since November 2015 in this segment.

Brands like Xiaomi, OnePlus, and others have become popular among Indian consumers as they offer a better price-performance ratio than big industry names such as Samsung. If this trend will continue well into the future, Samsung will probably have to lower its prices to stay competitive in the Indian market.

But Samsung isn’t the only brand that’s taking a beating. Indian manufacturers like Micromax, Lava, and Karbonn are also experiencing problems as their total market share has dropped down from 40 to less than 20 percent in a single year.