In the smartphone market globally, China remains the largest market. It is followed by India and then the U.S. These markets have their preferences and behaviors are also very different. The Chinese smartphone market is so complex that a single manufacturer can not have a firm grip on the market. However, the same can not be said of the Indian and U.S. phone markets. For the Indian smartphone market, Xiaomi has a firm grip on the market. In fact, it has been the number one smartphone brand consecutively for about two years.
While other Chinese brands are improving their business in India in an attempt to topple Xiaomi, the Chinese manufacturer is not losing focus. According to a recent report from Amazon India, 9 out of the 10 best selling smartphones on Amazon India is from Xiaomi. Xiaomi India’s Managing Director and Global VP, Manu Kumar Jain, posted a tweet that shows that Xiaomi’s Redmi sub-brand is doing all the magic in India.
9⃣ out of top 🔟 selling smartphones on @amazonIN. 💪
This is the year of 9⃣:
9⃣ #RedmiNote9ProMax
9⃣ #RedmiNote9Pro
9⃣ #RedmiNote9
9⃣ #Redmi9Prime
9⃣ #Redmi9
9⃣ #Redmi9AGizchina News of the week
And now #Power ⚡️⚡️ RT if you can guess the name of this new #PowerPacked device.
I ❤️ #Mi #Xiaomi #Redmi pic.twitter.com/NCtloJDeCc
— Manu Kumar Jain (@manukumarjain) December 9, 2020
The tweet shows a screenshot of Amazon India’s bestseller list. We can see that the nine Xiaomi devices on the list are from its Redmi sub-brand. The list shows that the Redmi Note 9 Pro remains Amazon India best seller. In addition, other Redmi devices on the list are Redmi Note 9 Pro Max, Redmi Note 9, Redmi 9 Prime, Redmi 9, and Redmi 9A. The only non-Xiaomi device on the list is Samsung Galaxy M31 Prime Edition.
The Indian market favours entry-level and mid-range smartphones
Furthermore, popular market surveys have shown that flagships are not for the Indian market. This is probably why the Redmi brand is doing so well in India. The most popular price range in India is between $100 and $300. Anything above this price range does not get too much attention. This is my the Xiaomi’s Redmi sub-brand focuses on entry-level and mid-range smartphones.
Interestingly, Xiaomi is only six years old in India. After its official entry in 2014, it has risen to the top spot in just a few years. As of Q3 2020, Xiaomi is still on top of the Indian smartphone market with a 26.1% market share. It readily beats the likes of Samsung, Oppo, Vivo, and Realme in India. If other manufacturers hope to beat Xiaomi in India, they must come up with a new price model. Redmi offers one of the best price-to-performance ratios in the world. This is instrumental to its performance in India.
