Samsung sweeps the board in the smartphone segment

The India Smartphone market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10.5 percent and reach US$ 281 billion by 2028, according to a Research and Markets forecast. 2021 started strong with pent-up demand from 2020 but supply disruptions and pandemic-related challenges certainly hurt the growth prospect significantly. A severe second wave and constrained supplies resulted in low inventories across channels also.

Smartphone – Brand Affinity Index

*All the graphs show the top 5 brands' scores only

Some have lost, some gained, however, the domination of Samsung is seemingly unchallenged in the smartphone category, especially when it comes to premium Android smartphones. Apple is a strong contender, yet, when you see the scores, Apple falls far behind. OnePlus and Vivo have been gaining the premium smartphone market share instead. Oppo and Apple are sharing the fourth spot followed by Realme, which entered the top five list this year replacing Xiaomi.

Smartphone – Spontaneous Brand Awareness

3 7

Samsung is on everyone’s mind; Two other names that came to most of the respondents’ minds spontaneously are Oppo and Vivo. Xiaomi is next on the list followed by OnePlus and Apple. It’s quite close competition between the brands. Samsung was the most recalled brand last year as well, followed by Xiaomi, Apple, Vivo, and Oppo. OnePlus could not make it to the top five list then. This time Vivo and Oppo pushed Xiaomi to the third spot and OnePlus is now in the top five leaving Apple behind.

Smartphone – Current Usage

4 7

Most of the respondents own Samsung, then amazingly for the second spot, we had a tie between three brands – Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi. Realme is in the third spot followed by OnePlus and Apple in the fourth spot and Honor in the fifth. Compared to last year’s findings, yes, Samsung was the leader, followed by Xiaomi and Realme, Vivo, and Oppo. And this year, all the brands are contending closely with each other. It is alarming for Xiaomi. Though, it was able to maintain its position in the second spot but had to share it with two others.

Smartphone – Future Purchase Consideration

5 8

It seems Xiaomi is in trouble from a future brand consideration perspective also. The popularity of OnePlus is higher than Samsung in this segment. Oppo, Apple, and Vivo are in the list of top five, but Xiaomi is out of the race. Last year, OnePlus was in the first spot and Xiaomi in the fourth spot. Xiaomi had a strategy to target the camera enthusiasts, but I guess this is time to think beyond it also.

Smartphone – Overall Brand Satisfaction

6 7

When it comes to satisfaction, Samsung and Vivo came first on the list with a 99 percent score. Xiaomi and OnePlus both came second with a 98 percent score. At the third spot, we have four names – Apple, Asus, Oppo, and Realme. Honor is in the fourth spot followed by LG in the fifth spot. The competition last year was not so intense and we had a clear winner, i.e. Samsung, followed by Apple, Xiaomi, Oppo, and Realme.

Smartphone – Brand Loyalty

7 8

Brand Loyalty findings break all the records this time. We have not seen such results till now. All the users turned out highly loyal to their respective brands. Samsung shared the first spot with Vivo, OnePlus, and Apple, each scoring 99 percent. Oppo and Xiaomi shared the second spot with a 97 percent score. In the third spot we have – Honor, LG, and Realme followed by Asus. Apple was the winner last year, followed by Samsung, Vivo, Xiaomi, and Oppo in the top five list.

Smartphone – Brand Advocacy

8 7

Samsung users have not only been loyal, they recommend the brand as well. Samsung has won the hearts of its users with a 97 percent score, and OnePlus and Apple are also quite a close scoring 96 percent. Vivo needs to work more to gain the users’ trust. Realme and Oppo both are in the fourth spot, followed by Honor.

Smartphone – Reasons for using current Brands

9 7

Respondents considered Samsung for its brand name, price point, and after-sales support/service. OnePlus grabbed the market for its brand name and after-sales support/service. Respondents considered Vivo for its quality along with the price point, Apple for the brand name and after-sales support/service, while oppo attracted buyers with the brand name.

Highlight - OnePlus and Vivo users are as loyal as Samsung and Apple users

By Satya Sundar Mohanty, CyberMedia Research

Ashok Pandey & Soma Tah, PCQuest

  pcquest@cybermedia.co.in