Hugo Barra, vice president of global operations at Xiaomi Corp., speaks during the launch of the company's Mi 5 smartphone in New Delhi, India, on March 31, 2016. (Photo : Getty Images/Prashanth Vishwanathan)
Smartphone vendors from China are winning in the Indian market after they ramped up efforts to entice consumers during Diwali, a special festival in India.
According to the International Data Corporation, a research firm, Chinese vendors are said to have snagged more than 40 percent market share in India's top 30 cities.
Xiaomi Corporation climbed to third place in the data, as they have a 10.7 percent market share of the total 40 percent.
Second place goes to Lenovo Group Ltd., which has a 13.4 percent market share, a 3.8 percent increase from before.
Upsana Joshi, a senior market analyst at IDC India, said in the report: "It was almost like a Chinese smartphone Diwali across all city tiers. China-based players contributed significantly to the growth at the offline retail counters, while continuing to dominate the online channel."
The good results came after Chinese smartphone vendors doubled their investment in India, which surpasses the U.S. as the second largest smartphone market globally with regards to user base in early 2016.
Besides the mentioned Chinese vendors, there are also others who contributed to China winning over the Indian smartphone market.
Huawei Technologies Co Ltd. started assembling smartphones in India last October.
Gionee Communications Equipment Co Ltd. made a statement that it would be investing an estimated 495 million yuan for building smartphone plants in India.
"India is a market no one can neglect and we have a long-term commitment to it," said Zhao Ming, a senior executive at Huawei.
Nicole Peng, a research director at Canalys, a Shanghai-based consultancy firm, said: "Chinese smartphone makers are eyeing India for growth because the domestic market is reaching saturation point and the Indian market is similar to that in China several years ago, as it is filled with opportunities."
Peng added: "Chinese players' efforts have started to bear fruit. But the Indian market is still dominated by low-end handsets, and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and local vendors have a strong advantage."
