Chinese vendors strong in Indian smartphone market

India is one of the most popular destinations for smartphone companies with as many mobile users as the entire population of the United States. Foreign vendors seem to have used this catalyst to their advantage. Although South Korea's Samsung leads its counterparts, IDC data shows that the combined shares of Chinese manufacturers Xiaomi, Vivo, Lenovo and Oppo add up to over 45 percent. They have taken smartphone users by storm, not only by offering similar features as their competitors at much more affordable prices, but also flooding the TV advertising industry with effective marketing. Clashes among telecom operators for cheaper mobile data plans and growing urbanisation also seem to be playing out well for smartphone vendors.

As of 2017, there were about 650 million mobile users, out of which 300 million used smartphones. According to CNN/Counterpoint Research, this number is estimated to reach almost half a million in the next five years.