Counterpoint Research has come up with interesting insights, related with selling of phones via ecommerce route. As per the report, online purchase of all types of phones is at an all time high, and in some metrics, online has clearly beaten offline mode of sales.
And, there are some major surprises for Xiaomi fans all! Read on to get the complete picture…
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Online Sales Beat Offline Sales
Overall, 38% of all phones sold were transacted online, which is an all time record. Never before so many phones were sold via online platforms.
As per Karn Chauhan, Research Analyst at Counterpoint Research, online sale of phones increased by 4%, compared to last year, meanwhile offline sales of phones decreased by 3%, if we compare the same period.
These data is for Q1 of 2018.
Flipkart #1 Platform For Buying Phones!
Meanwhile Flipkart has successfully beaten Amazon to emerge as #1 platform to buy phones online.
Among all phones ordered online, Flipkart grabbed massive 54%, which means that more than half of all phones ordered online happen via Flipkart!
Amazon has managed to grab only 30% of the market share.
Surprise entry into this list is Mi.com, which is the official Xiaomi website for ordering smartphones. Mi.com has been able to grab 14% of the market of online buying for smartphones. This is a major achievement by a brand, as they have beaten several ecommerce portals in this regard.
As per Tarun Pathak, Associate Director at Counterpoint Research, this massive increase in online selling of smartphones have happened mainly due to cheap 4G rates, and deep penetration of high speed broadband Internet in India.
Amazon Wins Premium Smartphone Race
However, when it comes to selling of premium smartphones, then Amazon is the #1 player. Beating Flipkart in this regard, Amazon India commands 77% of the market share for online selling of premium smartphones.
It seems that the exclusive partnership with OnePlus is doing wonders to Amazon’s overall branding.
Xiaomi #1 Brand For Online Buyers
And, the ultimate ranking: Xiaomi beats Samsung, OnPlus and other brands to become the top choice for online buyers.
During Q1 of 2018, 57% of all phones bought online were from Xiaomi, compared to 14% by Samsung and 8% by Huawei (Honor).
Xiaomi’s Redmi 5a was the top selling smartphone online, as it grabbed 23% share in the overall sales on phones, online.
Redmi Note 5, Redmi 4 were other popular models.
In fact, Huawei Honor 9 Lite was the only smartphone brand which was able to feature in the top 5 list – rest all 4 were Xiaomi phones.
As per the report, 30 new smartphones were launched during Q1 of 2018, and entry level and premium phones were the top categories in terms of sale. While Xiaomi has captured the attention of entry level phone users; OnePlus is the top brand in premium category, beating Apple.
We will keep you updated, as we find more inputs and news related with smartphone sales in India.