India's premium smartphone segment grew 36% year over year in 2024, with Xiaomi leading the mobile market: CMR

CyberMedia Research (CMR) reported that the premium smartphone market in India expanded 36% year over year in 2024. With a 72 percent increase in its market share in Q4 2024, Apple was among the top five smartphone brands in the nation, whereas Samsung was the leading premium smartphone brand the previous year. Conversely, the medium and budget groups experienced a 7% decline and a 1% increase, respectively. In 2024, the number of 2G cellphones fell by 22% year over year.

In Q4 2024, Vivo dominated the Indian 5G smartphone market.
The research firm's most recent report, "India Mobile Handset Market Review Report for CY2024," states that the country's premium smartphone market—which includes smartphones costing between Rs. 25,000 and Rs. 50,000—grew by 36%, while the super-premium segment—which includes smartphones priced between Rs. 50,000 and Rs. 1 lakh—grew by 10%. The market research agency claims that the uber-premium sector (those spending more than Rs. 1 lakh) increased by an even more remarkable 25%.

With a market share of 18.7%, Xiaomi (including Poco) surpassed Vivo (16.9%) and Samsung (16.9%) to take the top spot among phone manufacturers on CMR's 2024 ranking. With 28 percent, 25 percent, and 15 percent of the premium smartphone market, respectively, Samsung, Apple, and Vivo were the top three brands in the previous year.

4G handsets and feature phones are still declining.
In Q4 2024, the 4G smartphone market and feature phones with 2G connection both witnessed YoY declines of 59% and 22%, respectively. However, during the previous year, the number of low-cost smartphones (those costing less than Rs. 7,000) increased by 1%.

With the Vivo T3x 5G, Vivo Y28s 5G, and Vivo T3 Lite 5G, Vivo dominated the market in Q4 2024 (18 percent). Sales of the Redmi 13C 5G, Redmi A3x, and Redmi A4 5G helped Xiaomi climb to second place (15.2%). According to the CMR research, Samsung's market share of 15.1% was just below that of Xiaomi. The Nothing Phone 2a series and items from its sub-brand, CMF, helped Carl Pei-led Nothing grow by more than 800 percent in the most recent quarter.

One in three high-end smartphones released in 2024 were powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon CPUs, while MediaTek-equipped handsets achieved a remarkable 52 percent market share. Today's midrange and high-end smartphones come equipped with generative AI (GenAI) capabilities, and according to CMR,