Samsung Electronics Co., the second largest smartphone vendor in India, is narrowly chasing Xiaomi to win back top market position in India, the world’s second largest smartphone market.

According to market research firm Strategy Analytics on Friday, China’s Xiaomi still stayed No. 1 with a share of 28.7 percent in the Indian smartphone market by shipping 10.2 million units from April to June this year. Samsung Electronics that shipped 9.4 million units of smartphones came in second by taking up 26.3 percent share in the market.

The Korean smartphone maker has remained in the second position for the seven consecutive quarters in India, the world’s second largest smartphone market, since it yielded its No.1 position to the Chinese rival in the fourth quarter in 2017.

But the gap with Xiaomi narrowed to 2 from 7 percentage points in the first quarter and 5 percentage points in the same quarter last year.

Strategy Analytics said Samsung Electronics could add market share in India thanks to its adjustment of product portfolio, and predicted the Korean firm would be able to steal back the top position by the end of this year if this growth continues.

Samsung Electronics reinforced its low-end and mid-range lineups Galaxy A and Galaxy M and launched three models of Galaxy M series – M10, M20, and M30 – for the first time in India. At the same time, it has strengthened online marketing by selling the M series only through online channels. It also featured its most advanced active matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) displays and triple cameras to the budget devices.

Galaxy M series – M20 and M40

Xiaomi and Samsung Electronics were followed by Vivo that accounted for 11 percent in the Indian market in the second quarter, OPPO 8.1 percent and Realme 7.9 percent, all Chinese brands. Total shipments of smartphones in India grew 3 percent from the previous year to 35.6 million units, according to Strategy Analytics.

By Hwang Soon-min and Choi Mira

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