Neck and Neck in Smart TV and Smartphone Markets
Samsung Electronics and Xiaomi are competing fiercely for a bigger pie in the huge Indian market. The two companies rank first and second in the smartphone and smart TV markets, with a narrow gap in market shares.
India has a population of 1.4 billion, but the smartphone penetration rate is only 60 percent and the home appliance penetration rate is only 20 percent, suggesting huge growth potential in the two markets.
In the smart TV market, Samsung Electronics is rapidly narrowing its gap with Xiaomi, which is the number one player.
Counterpoint Research said that the Indian smart TV market grew 38 percent on year in the third quarter. Xiaomi and Samsung Electronics ranked first and second with market shares of 11 percent and 10 percent, respectively. The gap between the two companies was only 1 percentage point.
In 2019, Xiaomi accounted for 27 percent of the market, more than double Samsung's 13 percent. But in 2020, the gap narrowed to 7 percentage points as Samsung Electronics expanded its share to 16 percent against Xiaomi’s 23 percent. It shrank to 2 percentage points in 2021 with 18 percent for Xiaomi and 16 percent for Samsung Electronics.
Xiaomi entered the Indian smart TV market in February 2018. It expanded its presence by introducing diverse models from mid-range to premium products. The Chinese TV giant sold 8 million smart TVs in India alone in four years.
Samsung is focusing more on high-end products such as QLED TVs. As the proportion of premium TVs is on the rise in India, the Korean TV giant focuses on highlighting its technological prowess.
Samsung and Xiaomi are also fiercely competing in the Indian smartphone market. Samsung had been the No. 1 smartphone maker in India until 2017, but it lost the top spot to Chinese smartphone makers in 2018.
Xiaomi and Samsung tied for the first spot in the second quarter of this year with a market share of 19 percent. In the first quarter, Xiaomi was ahead with 23 percent against Samsung's 20 percent. In the third quarter, Xiaomi again topped with 21 percent against Samsung's 19 percent.
In the mobile phone market, which includes feature phones, Samsung is ahead with 18 percent against Xiaomi's 15 percent.
Xiaomi is expected to actively expand its market share by launching the Xiaomi 13 Pro and the Redmi Note 12 in the Indian market soon. Samsung Electronics is reportedly preparing to launch the Galaxy A14 and the Galaxy M04.