Samsung Electronics, which was overwhelmingly humbled in China, may have to fret about its rank in the world’s second populous market after yielding its top position in India to China’s Xiaomi armed with a fleet of localized budget phones in the first quarter.

According to market research agency Canalys on Monday, Xiaomi sold more than 9 million units of smartphones in India in the first quarter of this year, commanding the largest 31 percent share in the market. The share is the second highest record since the first quarter in 2014 when Samsung dominated 33 percent, according to the Canalys.

Samsung Electronics was second with a share of 25 percent from sales of 7.5 million units in the same period, chased by Chinese makers Oppo with 2.8 million units and Vivo with 2.1 million units.

The gap between Xiaomi and Samsung Electronics has been widened from the fourth quarter when the South Korean tech giant was outstripped by Xiaomi for the first time in the market in six years.

According to Canalys, Xiaomi’s latest Redmi 5, Redmi 5 Plus and Redmi 5A had been a hit in India, with Redmi 5A selling 3.5 million units during the first three months of this year. Samsung Electronics’ best-seller J7Nxt sold 1.5 million units.

Samsung is struggling against Chinese budget phone makers despite its aggressive promotion of the Galaxy A8 Plus and flagship Galaxy S9 in India because of its hefty price tag, market experts said. On top of price appeals, Xiaomi’s success in India lies in its localization strategy from marketing to product designs, Canalys noted.

“Xiaomi’s smartphones are now available in more places and in larger quantities,” said Canalys, as its product and marketing strategies are working well in the Indian market. “Smaller vendors are finding it extremely difficult to succeed in the face of Xiaomi’s growing prominence,” it added.

By Lee Dong-in and Choi Mira

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