Samsung Dethrones Xiaomi To Become Largest Smartphone Seller In India Amid Calls To Boycott Chinese Goods

Samsung has dethroned Xiaomi as the best selling smartphone brand in India after a period of two years, Times of India has reported.

In the third quarter figures of 2020 released by tracking agency Counterpoint, Samsung gathered a total share of 24 per cent in the Indian market, which is higher than Xiaomi’s figure of 23 per cent.

This development comes amid sustained calls to boycott Chinese products and smartphones amid China's unprovoked aggression at the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Asim Warsi, senior Vice President at Samsung India said to TOI, “The online business for Samsung has been growing strongly, and we have seen the contribution of online sales to overall smartphone volumes double to 30 per cent from 15 per cent recorded earlier.”

In Q3 of 2018, Xiaomi had overtaken Samsung in the country, following which, several Chinese brands such as Oppo, Vivo and RealMe have expanded swiftly by launching new phones and advertising aggressively in India.

Counterpoint has stated that a negative sentiment by the customers towards Chinese products might have stimulated these recently released numbers. However, the agency has also noted that Xiaomi’s sales could have dropped due to manufacturing constraints caused by different factors during the pandemic.