The Huawei Honor 6X smartphone is developed by Huawei and is powered by an octa-core processor alongside 3GB of RAM and a 12-megapixel rear camera. (Photo : YouTube/CNET)
Chinese smartphone brands are outstripping homegrown rivals in India, while challenging the supremacy of other international names in the world's fastest-growing market for mobile phones, Bloomberg reported.
Four of the top five best-selling smartphone makers for the fourth quarter of 2016 come from China, elbowing out local labels Intex and Micromax. South Korea's Samsung held the top position despite seeing nationwide sales drop 5 percent, according to data released by Counterpoint Research.
Meanwhile, Xiaomi, Oppo, Lenovo/Motorola, Vivo and other Chinese suppliers made up 46 percent of the overall market share. China brands' lead is attributed to their "stylish yet affordable devices" that pose a serious threat to higher-end brands like Samsung, said Bloomberg.
Bigger displays, state-of-the-art processors and dual-SIM features contributed much to the increased interest for Chinese smartphones. These were complemented by the endorsements from Bollywood and cricket stars, Bloomberg noted.
India's growing mobile phones market bodes well for Chinese vendors, who have been looking for other areas for growth as market goes saturated back home. According to estimates, about 500 million handsets are expected to be sold in the country, making it one of the much-coveted markets globally.
"The Chinese phonemakers' march will continue next year with a double-pronged strategy," said Neil Shah, research director at Counterpoint, in a Bloomberg interview. "Besides marketing spends and generous retailer margins, Vivo, Oppo and Huawei have already paid a premium and are cornering the supply of components like OLED screens and memory for next year."
The fourth-quarter smartphones sales result is the first time on record that no local player made it to the top-five bestsellers list, according to TechCrunch. This is partly due to the demonitisation implemented recently by the Indian government. Local officials recalled 500 IR and 1,000 IR notes in a fight against "black money." This had a major impact on the country's commerce, including smartphones sales, said Canalys.
"Local brands' target customers typically buy in cash and from independent retailers. With the short-term liquidity crunch caused by demonetization, these retailers are suffering a slowdown in consumer spending. Local vendors are losing out as retailers look to shift their stock to fast-moving, current devices," Rushabh Doshi, an analyst at Canalys, told TechCrunch.
