Pandemic forced India’s smartphone shipments down by 48% in Q2

India’s smartphone shipments fell by 48% in the April-June quarter to 17.3 million units shipped, a report by research firm Canalys said. The country had seen 33 million smartphone units being shipped in the same quarter last year. The slowdown was due to the lockdowns enforced by the government to get the covid-19 pandemic under control. Smartphone makers were amongst the many consumer electronics companies who said they would face massive losses due to the shutdowns. The Indian government was forced to shutdown retail stores, deliveries through e-commerce and even manufacturing units.

That said, the positioning of the top smartphone firms didn’t change much during the period. Chinese Xiaomi remained the market leader in India with 31% market share, shipping 5.3 million units in the quarter. The company was followed by fellow Chinese competition, Vivo, which shipped 3.7 million units and had a 21.3% market share, up from 19.9% in Q1, 2020.