Samsung takes down Xiaomi in India in Q2

South Korea’s Samsung Electronics has beaten China’s Xiaomi in the Indian smartphone market share in the second quarter of this year, according to a research firm Wednesday.

Samsung accounted for 29 percent in terms of smartphone shipments in the Indian market during the April-une period, slightly outpacing Xiaomi at 28 percent, showed data by Counterpoint Research.

The Korean smartphone maker ceded its leading position in the market to the Chinese player in the fourth quarter of last year for the first time. It was the second overseas market after China for Samsung to lose to a Chinese company. 

“Samsung has regained the leading position after ceding it to Xiaomi two quarters ago,” said Karn Chauhan, analyst at the institute. “The success of Samsung during the quarter can be attributed to its refreshed J-series; it launched more models than any other brand, across multiple price points, during the quarter.”

These new launches brought some of the most popular and sought-after features like, dual camera, infinity display, and facial unlock to different price segments for Samsung for the first time ever, he added.

Samsung is ramping up its smartphone production in India from the current 5 million units to 10 million units per month at its newly built plant in Noida, where Samsung heir Lee Jae-yong and Korean President Moon Jae-in met last month.

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)