With an almost similar population, China (1.4 billion inhabitants) and India (1.38 billion inhabitants) are unsurprisingly the world’s two largest smartphone markets. However, the state of the smartphone market in 2021 is not at all the same in China and India. While smartphone sales jump 12% in Indiathey fell by 9% in China.
Smartphone sales in China fell 9%
Two similar markets in appearance, but very different in fact. Smartphone sales in China decreased by 9% year-on-year compared to the year 2020. During the fourth quarter of the year, 80% of smartphones sold in China were compatible with 5G. Smartphones sold in China are therefore rather in a high-end segment.
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Over this same period, Apple has overtaken Vivo in terms of market share, for become the first smartphone retailer in China. A situation that had not occurred since 2016, at the time of the peak of the iPhone 6. For Ivan Lam, analyst at Counterpoint Research, “The market in China continues to decline due to various factors on both the supply and demand side”.
He believes component shortages are impacting shipments for all OEMs. The analyst also observes that China’s average smartphone replacement cycle is getting longer. This is bad news for manufacturers. Finally, as smartphones become more and more similar in terms of technology, consumers are no longer so tempted to upgrade to a higher model.
More generally, China is experiencing a particular economic period : exports drive growth upwards but domestic spending weakens.
+12% for the Indian market
Conversely, the Indian smartphone market is in great shape: +12% compared to the previous yearaccording to the research firm Canalys. 162 million smartphones have been sold in the country, despite a difficult start to the year, which corresponds to when the country was battling a strong wave of Covid-19. The top five spots on the podium in India are taken by Asian manufacturers, with Xiaomi leading the way.
Spectacular growth as India suffered a dramatic second wave of Covid-19 last year. Suppliers had to adapt to this volatile environment expanding their product line. The rapid deployment of vaccination allowed the reopening of the market.
It was at this precise moment that smartphone sales reached all-time highs. Unlike China, India has seen low-end smartphone models flow like hotcakes. The upcoming replacement of these smartphones suggests that the Indian market still has a bright future ahead of it.