Dial M for margins: Chinese phone companies offer higher share to retailers

New Delhi: Chinese smartphone brands have started offering higher retailer and distributor margins than their rivals, heating up competition in the Indian handset market amid increased government scrutiny. For instance, Xiaomi and Realme doubled their margins to 8-11% in the fourth quarter of 2023 from 4% earlier, overtaking Apple and Samsung which offer 8-10% margins, while Oppo and Vivo have maintained the festival season margins of 16-18%, retailers and industry executives told ET.

The higher margins come when the combined market share of the top Chinese handset players has slipped to 73% in Q3 compared with 74% a year ago, according to Counterpoint Research.