Canalys: India sees unprecedented 20% decline in Q1 shipments

Canalys posted its report on the Indian market, revealing a tough start of the year. The overall market saw a 20% slump on a yearly basis, with only 30 million shipments between all makers.

Four out of the top five companies saw a decline in shipments, with only Oppo miraculously growing 18%, which helped the maker overtake vivo and Xiaomi and move into second place.

Sanyam Chaurasia, an analyst at Canalys, revealed the Indian market faced an early-year struggle due to sluggish demand. Companies are realigning their strategies to adapt to changing consumer behavior - they optimize retail, manufacturing, local sourcing and R&D to secure a long-term position in the market.

Chaurasia added that vendors with effective channel management took the hit lightly, and companies who performed well in the offline market demonstrated stability during the Q1 period. Samsung is one of them, where the Galaxy A and Galaxy S launches between January and March helped to soften the blow. Apple also aims to join the offline battle, finally putting the company on the map in the country.

The mass-market segment is the most popular in India, but is also expected to face the most challenges in 2023. As disposable income gradually rises, users are more willing to spend on midrangers, while mid-tier users prefer more premium devices.

Source