Chinese vendor Realme made the greatest gains in a growing Indian smartphone market, with a 400 per cent year-on-year spike in shipments in Q3 2019, data from IDC showed.

The company took a 14.3 per cent share of shipments in the period, on 6.7 million units, albeit the annual comparison is somewhat skewed by the fact Realme only entered the Indian market in May 2018 and so was still building its presence in Q3 2018.

Domestic rival Xiaomi also grew, maintaining its leading position with 12.6 million units shipped, up 8.5 per cent. However, the vendor’s market share slipped marginally, from 27.3 per cent to 27.1 per cent.

Second-placed Samsung’s shipments fell 8.5 per cent to 8.8 million, with an associated decline in market share from 22.6 per cent to 18.9 per cent.

Vivo ranked in third on shipments of 7.1 million units, up 58.7 per cent, with Oppo fifth on 5.5 million units, a 92.3 per cent increase.

Total shipments grew 9.3 per cent to 46.6 million units, which IDC declared a “record”. It stated the increase was driven by “multiple online sale festivals, new model launches, and price corrections on a few key models by various brands”.

But research director Navkendar Singh predicted shipments for the full year would register “only mid-to-high single-digit” growth, due to “passive consumer sentiment and muted shipments in the last quarter”.