KOLKATA: Xiaomi, VivoBSE 0.29 % and Oppo together posted a near-eightfold jump in India sales in fiscal 2017, adding around Rs 19,600 crore (over $3 billion) to their sales as they ate into the market share of home-grown smartphone makers who failed to match the Chinese brigade on products, marketing and distribution.
The three top Chinese smartphone companies in India posted combined sales of Rs 22,527 crore in the year through March 2017, their third year of operations here, compared with Rs 2,919 crore the year before, latest regulatory filings show. The sales growth of Vivo and Oppo may have slowed down this year, said retail industry executives, but Xiaomi continues to capture market at a quick pace.
Heavy investment in distribution and sales, as well as focus on launching high-end products at prices that are lower than established brands and at regular intervals have helped these companies grossly outpace the market.
Compared with their performance, Samsung, which has been present in India for almost two decades, posted sales of Rs 34,000 crore in the smartphone segment in fiscal 2017, a 27% increase from the year before, ET reported recently.
In fact, analysts estimated Samsung and Xiaomi to be neck and neck on market share in the July-September quarter, the most recent period for which figures are available.
Lack of 4G Handsets
In contrast, revenue at the largest domestic smartphone maker, Micromax, fell 42% to Rs 5,613.97 crore in fiscal 2017 and that at No. 2 Intex shrank 30% to Rs 4,364.08 crore. Besides the Chinese competition, their performance was hit also by a lack of 4G handsets in their portfolio.
Vivo Mobile India, the latest among the Chinese smartphone companies to report financials in India, posted an over six-time jump in sales at Rs 6,173.3 crore in fiscal 2017. Both Xiaomi and Oppo had earlier reported over eightfold growth.
“Xiaomi, Vivo and Oppo made huge investment in marketing and expansion of distribution in India which is reflected in their phenomenal growth and sales performance,” said Uvaraj Natarajan, the chief executive at Poorvika Mobiles, a 270-store cellphone retail chain in the South.
The chief of another leading cellphone retail chain said while Xiaomi continued to grow at a quick pace, Oppo and Vivo’s growth rate was under pressure this year.
“Instead, another Chinese brand, Lenovo’s Motorola smartphone portfolio, is surging in sales this year,” he said.
A senior retail executive said both Oppo and Vivo were now focussing on online sales via Amazon and Flipkart in India, changing their earlier strategy to remain largely offline-focussed as they seek to speed up growth.
Xiaomi India managing director Manu Jain recently told ET that the company was expected to double sales this year. According to research firm IDC India, Xiaomi equalled Samsung in India smartphone market share, with both posting 23.5% in the July-September quarter. Lenovo-Motorola was next in the pecking order with a 9% share, followed by Vivo at 8.5% and Oppo at 7.9% share, the researcher said.
As per its filings with the Registrar of Companies, Xiaomi India’s revenue grew to Rs 8,379.33 crore in fiscal 2017 from Rs 1,046.19 crore the year before, while that at Oppo India rose to Rs 7,974.29 crore from Rs 933.74 crore.
Xiaomi India turned profitable with a net profit of Rs 163.86 crore in fiscal, compared with a loss of Rs 46.94 crore the year before. Vivo Mobile India’s loss narrowed last fiscal year to Rs 111.66 crore from Rs 166.29 crore, its filing with the RoC showed.
A Vivo Mobile India spokesperson said the company enjoyed a dominant position in the Rs 20,000-30,000 segment in the Indian mobile market and that its sales and shipments in the last quarter reflected a clear upward growth trajectory. The company is confident of continuing the momentum in 2018 as well, the spokesperson added.
Source : https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/hardware/change-in-strategy-lack-of-desi-4g-phones-helps-chinese-handset-makers-outsmart-indian-rivals/articleshow/62331834.cms