Smaller Smartphone Brands Outpace Market Leaders in India's H1 2024 Shipments

Smaller brands like Motorola, iQOO and Poco lead smartphone shipment growth in H1

NEW DELHI: Smaller brands like Motorola, Nothing, iQOOMotorola, Nothing, iQOO and Poco, which form the long-tail in the smartphone market sweepstakes, were the major contributors to the 7.2% year-on-year growth in shipments in the first half of 2024. The Indian smartphone market shipped 69 million smartphones in the first half of 2024, clocking the fourth consecutive quarter of year-on-year shipment growth, even though consumer demand remained muted amidst rising average selling prices. Motorola and Nothing were the fastest growing brands in the April-June quarter, driven by a portfolio of devices spread across price segments with unique colour-material-finish for each product that made both brands stand out among strong competition, market trackers said. Motorola, which grew at 179.7% on-year in Q2 2024, saw its market share go up from 2.3% in Q2 2023 to 6.2% in Q2 2024, as the company fared well on online sales, IDC said. The research firm IDC India added that Motorola also entered the top five brands list in the online channel, coming in at fourth, as shipments to online channels grew 8% on-year in Q2 with offline channel shipments declining 2% on-year due to severe heatwave conditions. "Motorola has been a tremendous success story in this quarter. While earlier they would only be servicing the budget and mid-premium segment, this time the company has spread its portfolio across all price segments, including the premium ones with its foldable Razr phones," said Upasana Joshi, research manager, IDC India. Meanwhile, young brand Nothing was the second-fastest growing brand in the April-June quarter. The company introduced its first budget smartphone with a unique, transparent design, and competitive hardware, which saw shipments zoom from 112,000 in Q2 2023 to 237,000 in Q2 2024 for a 111.6% on-year jump in growth in Q2 2024, as per IDC. Joshi added that both Motorola and Nothing got a lot of support from Flipkart in positioning their devices for the right customer, resulting in increased sales. Motorola also has a better brand recall for AI phones and is often perceived as a global, non-Chinese brand, she said.

Smaller brands like Motorola, iQOO and Poco lead smartphone shipment growth in H1

NEW DELHI: Smaller brands like Motorola, Nothing, iQOOMotorola, Nothing, iQOO and Poco, which form the long-tail in the smartphone market sweepstakes, were the major contributors to the 7.2% year-on-year growth in shipments in the first half of 2024. The Indian smartphone market shipped 69 million smartphones in the first half of 2024, clocking the fourth consecutive quarter of year-on-year shipment growth, even though consumer demand remained muted amidst rising average selling prices. Motorola and Nothing were the fastest growing brands in the April-June quarter, driven by a portfolio of devices spread across price segments with unique colour-material-finish for each product that made both brands stand out among strong competition, market trackers said. Motorola, which grew at 179.7% on-year in Q2 2024, saw its market share go up from 2.3% in Q2 2023 to 6.2% in Q2 2024, as the company fared well on online sales, IDC said. The research firm IDC India added that Motorola also entered the top five brands list in the online channel, coming in at fourth, as shipments to online channels grew 8% on-year in Q2 with offline channel shipments declining 2% on-year due to severe heatwave conditions. "Motorola has been a tremendous success story in this quarter. While earlier they would only be servicing the budget and mid-premium segment, this time the company has spread its portfolio across all price segments, including the premium ones with its foldable Razr phones," said Upasana Joshi, research manager, IDC India. Meanwhile, young brand Nothing was the second-fastest growing brand in the April-June quarter. The company introduced its first budget smartphone with a unique, transparent design, and competitive hardware, which saw shipments zoom from 112,000 in Q2 2023 to 237,000 in Q2 2024 for a 111.6% on-year jump in growth in Q2 2024, as per IDC. Joshi added that both Motorola and Nothing got a lot of support from Flipkart in positioning their devices for the right customer, resulting in increased sales. Motorola also has a better brand recall for AI phones and is often perceived as a global, non-Chinese brand, she said.