How Did Chinese Brands Crush Indian Smartphone Brands?
The answer to this question is not a simple one. However, there are a few factors that can be attributed to the success of Chinese brands in India.
#Remember the days when Micromax & Lava were ruling the Indian market?
Sadly, their success didn’t last long and Chinese smartphone brands like Xiaomi, OnePlus, Realme, Oppo, etc. soon took over the Indian market!
#Who rules Indian smartphone market?
Currently, the top smartphone brand in India is the Chinese brand Xiaomi. Apple, being a premium brand has a specific audience and Samsung has also been performing good.
Fun Fact: Xiaomi is India’s No. 1 smartphone brand with a market share of 22%.
#The 4G Revolution
The rise of Chinese smartphones began with the 4G revolution brought in by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio.
Back in the day, the maximum number of 4G phones in India were made available by Chinese companies, hence, the massive success.
#What’s so special about Chinese smartphones?
Chinese brands have dominated the Indian Smartphone Market by:
- Introducing affordable 4G smartphones.
- Providing good quality camera at reasonable prices.
- Attracting dealers using heavy discounts.
- Cutting down costs & directly selling online.
- Consistently innovating the design & technology.
Industry experts credit Chinese brands’ aggressive selling, manufacturing & innovation for their sudden rise in India.
While Indian brands had still not ventured into 4G by 2015-16, Chinese brands had launched 4G phones with other interesting features like dual camera, fingerprint sensor, etc. at cheap prices.
#Downfall of Indian Brands
While Indian mobile brands had a market share of 43% in 2015, it had come down to a single digit number by 2018.
The side effects of the quick success of Chinese smartphone brands in India were also seen on the market share of Korean brand Samsung in India.
#Time for the climax!
While Chinese smartphones are dearly loved by the price sensitive Indians, data security & privacy concerns have been haunting Indians for a while now.
Such cheap phones come with pre-installed apps which tend to be a lot more invasive than the apps we download ourselves from play store.
#Did You Know?
Chinese company Xiaomi had earned 9.1% of its revenue in 2018 through pre-installed apps & services, which have access to our data which can be misused.
What makes all this even more risky is the fact that such apps have embedded third-party libraries which can expose users to financial frauds.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, Indian smartphone brands have been overtaken by Chinese smartphone brands. This is due to the lack of innovation and a focus on price. The Indian smartphone market is currently dominated by Chinese brands who are not only innovative but also have a strong focus on quality.
@source: marketing.stories
