Smartphone demand in India remained strong in the opening quarter of 2024, with four of the top five vendors recording year-on-year growth driven by aggressive pricing for premium models, data from Canalys showed.

Shipments grew 15 per cent to 35.3 million units.

Canalys senior analyst Sanyam Chaurasia noted while most brands booked double-digit growth, brands outside the top five continued to challenge the market share of leading vendors. He forecast price hikes to continue as operational pressures rise due to higher component costs, adding brands will look to justify incremental pricing beyond 5G capabilities.

Samsung maintained the top spot with shipments up 6 per cent to 6.7 million units, but its market share slipped 2 percentage points to 19 per cent. Xiaomi’s share grew by 2 points to 18 per cent, after shipments jumped 29 per cent to 6.4 million units.

Vivo’s shipments rose 14 per cent to 6.2 million, with its share stable at 18 per cent, while Oppo lost market share, down from 13 per cent to 10 per cent, as shipments fell 4 per cent to 3.7 million.

Realme’s share inched up to 10 per cent after recording 17 per cent growth to 3.4 million.

Shipments in Q4 2023 had risen 20 per cent to 38.9 million units.