In this article, we have prepared a list of top 10 mobile phone brands in the India 2021 on the basis of shipment units. India has a population of 1.35 billion which makes it one of the biggest markets in the world. Same is true for mobile phones. Due to Pandemic, India as other markets saw a drop in the mobile phone market. Initially in 2020, the sales nosedived but it recovered towards the second half and clocked approximately 150 million units shipments across all brands.
The list of top mobile brands in India is led by Xiaomi, Samsung, Oppo and Vivo with global giants like Apple making the top 10 along with brands like OnePlus, Nokia and Lenovo (Motorola). With Indian brands like Micromax making a comeback, Indian Mobile Phone market will continue to surprise the analysts. The first 5 brands in the list capture around 80% of the market. Indian market buys both smartphones as well as feature phones. Here is the list of the top 10 mobile brands in India in 2021.
Top Mobile Phone Brands in India Ranking 2021 by Shipments:
10. Nokia
Nokia the original king of Mobile phones in India lost a lot of market a few years back with Lumia phones and windows based phones not able to re-establish it globally as well as in India.
It has still not recovered completely but with launch of Android budget phones, it’s again making a comeback of sorts in markets like India.
Some of the biggest names made by Nokia in India are mentioned below:
-Nokia 5 series
-Nokia 2 Series
-Nokia C Series
-Nokia Feature phones including the 3310
Shipments : ~2-2.5 Million
9. Lenovo (Motorola India)
In 2011, Motorola became a subsidiary of Lenovo, when it acquired the mobile division from Motorola Inc, making it one of the strongest mobile and smartphone manufacturer in the world.
The Lenovo Motorola Company is based out of Illinois in the United States of America, and has a global presence. The company has a strong expertise in smartphones, tablets, smart watches etc. With Lenovo as its parent company, Motorola has a strong financial backing and hence huge amount of money is put in research and development, and innovation is considered a USP for the brand. Motorola recently launched Razr brand in India which has generated great reviews and has got the foldable interface quite well. The price point is quite high in India at around 75000-125000 Rupees but it established Motorola back as a major innovative brand.
Some of the phones by Motorola in India are mentioned below:
- Moto G
- Moto One Series
- Moto Razr
- Moto Edge
Shipments : ~2.5-3 Million
8. OnePlus
OnePlus is a sibling of Oppo, Vivo and realme but is positioned as a affordable but premium feature rich brand.
OnePlus with launch of Oneplus 8 and 8T has captured some market share in India in the range of 2-2.5%. OnePlus is a popular brand in India and with launch of the Nord series, it has become even more affordable. Nord is feature rich and almost all features which are there in other premium phones in the market. OnePlus smartphone mobile brand has shown a great rise in terms of capturing the mobile market. The brand has grown on to sell its phones in more than 50 countries worldwide. OnePlus uses the latest technologies in manufacturing phones, and is also one of the pioneers in the 5G technologies. By virtue of his high class design and good hardware, it is one the top mobile brands in the premium segment. The company has R&D operations in India and China, and has offices spread across US, Europe & Asia. The brand has 3 million people in its own community and has social media engagement with more than 5 million users globally.
Shipments : ~3.5-4 Million
7. Apple
Apple Inc. is headquartered in California, US. It was founded on 1st April 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. Apple iPhones as are popular in India as rest of the world.
Apple is world’s 2nd largest IT Company by revenue after Samsung Electronics and also a global leader in making Apple iPhone brand. Apple became the first company in US to be valued more than 1 Trillion. Apple enjoys high Brand loyalty and is the one of the most valuable brand. With iPhone X, 11 and 12 series, Apple is looking to gain users in India. Apple has not been a top mobile brand in India because of cost associated with Apple Products. Apple faces competition from Samsung, Xiaomi and other brands which offer phone at a price point much lower than Apple's. India market is price sensitive hence Apple is stuck at around 3-4% market share in India as compared to Samsung which is at around 20%. This is in contrast to global markets. Apple has started to capture a good share of middle class consumers’ wallet also with launch of iPhone SE.
Shipments : 5 Million
6. Transsion (Itel)
India market not only is driven by smartphone sales but also feature phone sales.
Transsion brands like Itel has really captured the feature phone market and is also launching smartphones like Itel Vision series and Techno Spark and other brands in the market. In feature phones list, Itel is now one of the biggest brands challenging big brands like Samsung in feature phone as well as smartphone segments. Transsion has been one of the biggest brands in African markets but now it is one of the fastest growing brands in indian mobile phone market as well.
Shipments : ~10-15 Million (Estimated)
5. Oppo
Oppo is a Chinese smartphone brand founded in 2001 in Dongguan, China. It is owned by BBK Electronics which also own other famous brands Vivo and OnePlus.
Oppo has been rising fast and broke onto the top mobile scene in 2015-16 with budget smartphones with high end features. It is present in many countries other than China like India, America etc. Oppo is quite innovative with its products e.g. N1 and N3 were famous for their Industry First designs. Oppo invests a lot in marketing. In India, it is sponsoring the Indian national cricket team and also has famous Bollywood stars as its ambassadors. Similarly in other countries, it ties up with sports leagues and celebrities. Its product portfolio includes
1. Oppo F 17 Series
2. Oppo Reno Series
3. Oppo A Series
Oppo positions itself as a camera phone maker. It focusses a lot on camera features and innovation. Oppo’s selfie expert smartphones are quite famous with youngsters. Oppo entered mobile market in 2008 but has really grown in the past couple of years. Oppo is present in 21 countries globally. Oppo has a partnership with Qualcomm for innovative solutions.
Shipments : 15 Million
4. Realme
Realme is one of the highest growing mobile brands in India in recent past
Realme has a portfolio of more than 20 brands now since its inception. Realme has a range of TVs, headphones, smartwatches also in its portfolio which are all available in India. Launched in 2018, Realme is a technology which has its expertise in manufacturing mobile phones. With sleak designs, powerful hardware & affordable prices, Realme has taken the global mobile market by surprise. Due to global expansion as well as huge acceptance worldwide, it is one of the fastest growing smartphone handset company. As a part of its growth strategy, Realme has entered global markets like India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Phillipines, South East Asia & even Europe. In India, the brand has won several awards like best entry level smartphone, most loved brand, disruptive brand etc. The brand is available on almost all multi-brand electronics retail outlets & also on leading ecommerce platform.
Shipments : 20 Million
3. Vivo
Vivo is a Chinese phone brand which is owned by BBK electronics which also owns Oppo. Vivo is based in Dongguan.
Vivo was founded in 2009 but became famous with the mobile phone X1. Vivo is known for its Hi-Fi chips in its products which results in strong performance of its smartphones. Vivo also uses an interactive system called Smart in its products, which is an innovative system for using the phone. Vivo focusses a lot on innovation & R&D. Vivo positions itself as a camera and music phone manufacturer. Vivo is also known for its marketing. Vivo ties up with sports even and celebrities to promote its products.
Its latest product portfolio in India include
1) Vivo V15 Series
2) Vivo V17 Series
3) Vivo Y Series
It has been active in market since 2012. Vivo is present in India, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines, Myanmar, Indonesia. Vivo follows strict quality control system to ensure high quality products for its markets.
Shipments : 25 Million
2. Samsung
Samsung is a mobile phone manufacturer of South Korean origin which is present now in almost all countries including India.
Samsung has been one of the top brands in India since long but after the advent of android phones, it really picked up. Samsung has been giving tough competition to Apple in the smartphone segment with its Samsung Galaxy phones series. The recent addition has been Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra which is really getting good reviews. Samsung electronics operates in about 80+ countries and employs more than 350000 people. Samsung’s S8 launch is very important for the company to be a force in smartphone market.
Samsung major phone launches have been:
1) Samsung M Series (M31, M51 etc.)
2) Samsung Galaxy S21
3) Samsung A series (A31, A51)
Samsung was founded almost 50 years ago in 1969 and today is one of the biggest companies in the world. Samsung needs to keep up the innovation to make sure it competes with Apple and tries to overtake it. Samsung maintained a share of around 20% in the Indian smartphone market
Shipments : 31 Million
1. Xiaomi
Xiaomi has become one of the most recognized smartphone manufacturing companies based out of China. Xiaomi is one of the leading manufacturers of smartphones in China, supplying to the world.
The company was found as recently as 2010, and has still managed to leave a mark in the smart phone segment, owing to its high quality phones and low prices. Xiaomi has strong manufacturing and operation in countries like India, Singapore, Malaysia apart from China. Apart from mobile phones the company has also managed a substantial market share in segments like tablets, home devices and laptops. The logo of Xiaomi is written as “MI”, which stands for Mobile internet. It has managed to overcome severe adversities in this competitive environment and leave its mark. Some of the leading products in the smartphone segment offered are:
The Redmi Note Series
Note 8 Pro
All these are extremely popular phones as they have all the features which are offered by a leading phone manufacturer, but the company offers it at affordable competitive prices. Xiaomi has always put customers first, and has developed its technology as per the needs and requirements of the customers. Apart from smartphone, Xiaomi has also ventured into smart watches and smart bands which are making their presence felt in the developing Asian economies.
Shipments : 40 Million Units
Ranking Methodology:
1. The major mobile phone companies were taken which have sales and presence in India
2. Parameters like Shipments and market share were considered
3. The rankings were based on the latest annual shipment units in India