Indian smartphone market up 12% in 2021 despite pandemic: Canalys report

The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is being strongly felt across industries around the world, and the smartphone market is no different. One of the biggest issues that caused a lot of buzz was a shortage of chips that caused smartphone makers to cancel some of their launch events. According to a report by Canalys, the smartphone market in India has grown by 12% in 2021 compared to the market in 2020.

Xiaomi topped the list, while Samsung and Realme came in second and third respectively. Fourth place went to Vivo and fifth place went to Oppo. In 2021, all smartphone companies shipped a total of 162 million smartphones to India, up 12% from 144.7 million in 2020. Here is a detailed overview of the Indian smartphone market in 2021.

Top Smartphone Manufacturers by Market Share in 2021

According to a Canalys report, Xiaomi holds the crown with over 40.5 million units shipped with a 25% market share. In 2020, Xiaomi shipped a total of 40.7 million units, with a market share of 28%. Please note that Poco is included in the Xiaomi data.

Samsung came in second with a total of 30.1 million units shipped with a 19% market share. Last year, the company shipped a total of 28.6 million devices and occupied 20% of the market.

Vivo ranked third in annual growth, shipping a total of 25.7 million units to India in 2021. The company registered a slowdown in growth, as it shipped 26.9 million units in 2020, capturing 19% of the market.

Realme has been a major key growth player in 2021, in 2021 it recorded a 25% growth in India with 24.2 million units shipped. It now holds 15% of the market compared to 13% registered in 2020. Narzo 50A and C11 were among the main models that were actively sold.

Oppo ranked fifth with over 20.1 million units shipped to India in 2021, holding 12% of the market. It recorded a growth of 6% compared to last year, when 9 million units were shipped. Note that Oppo’s data includes OnePlus shipments.

Other key players have recorded an overall growth of 111% in 2021. You can look at the creative below to understand the data clearly.

Even the JioPhone Next (First Impressions) released in the fourth quarter of 2021 has gained a lot of momentum, selling more than a few million units. Similarly, the Transsion Holdings group such as Tecno and Infinix recorded good growth in 2021.

Analysts at Canalys believe 5G will see significant growth in 2022 as spectrum auctions take place this year.

Sanyam Chaurasia of Canalys says, “India will experience a massive digital transformation this year, 2022 will bring 5G spectrum auctions with new radio frequency bands, and 5G will become significantly more affordable in terms of coverage and price. 5G smartphones will further drop in price amid fierce supplier competition, but shipments will be halted in the first half of 2022 before component shortages ease.”

Smartphone Shipments in Q4 2021 in India

Canalys also announced smartphone shipments in the fourth quarter of 2021. According to the research firm, Xiaomi also holds the crown in this aspect in the fourth quarter of 2021, while Samsung and Realme were among the other key players. Apart from Realme, almost all major smartphone brands recorded a drop in growth in the fourth quarter of 2021.