Samsung has now counterattacked the recent report by Canalysis crowning Xiaomi as the top smartphone vendor in India. The South-Korean giant claims that it’s still the leading manufacturer in India by a distance. At least in overall sales department or the total revenue generated by the smartphone business, if not in terms of shipments.
Backed by an analysis report of German research firm GfK, which tracks sales to end consumers, in the last (November) quarter, Samsung adds that it had a “45 percent value market share and 40 percent volume market share”. Apparently, outshining its potential rival in Indian market by a considerable margin.
Here, the ongoing battle between Samsung and Xiaomi revolving around these sales analysis ought to create confusion among common mobs. That said, it’s good to keep in mind that the method adopted by Canalys and Gfk is quite totally different. The former analyzed shipment numbers, while the latter has gone for sales instead. By that measurement, Samsung still reigns the world’s second largest smartphone market.
German research firm GfK reports final consumption which is the most important measure of market share,” adding that while shipment numbers are important, they don’t tell the final market share. “The real share is what I sold out to my customers and here, we are pretty strong”.
-ASIM WARSI, Samsung India’s global vice president
To make things even clearer, Samsung proclaims “it doesn’t need to do large shipments because its supply chain is lean and efficient”. Well, even though Samsung has tried its best to keep its reputation in tact by highlighting the Gfk reports, undoubtedly Xiaomi has deployed a great challenge in front of the firm. Thereby, until and unless Samsung employs a substantial or effective strategy in India, it can be dethroned at any time by Xiaomi.