The Indian government is trying to stop Chinese phone makers from selling smartphones under INR 12,000 ($ 150 / € 147) in the country in an effort to push Chinese brands out of the lower segment, reports Bloomberg.
This move would affect Xiaomi, Realme and Transsion the most as they sell many smartphones in the sub $ 150 segment in India. According to Counterpoint, smartphones in this price category contributed a third of India’s sales volume for the quarter through June 2022, with Chinese brands accounting for up to 80% of those shipments.
The idea behind the ban on Chinese brands to sell smartphones in the sub-$ 150 segment in India is to allow local operators such as Lava and Micromax to increase sales in this category and regain market share.
Sales from both companies accounted for just under 50% of smartphone sales in India before being undercut by Chinese brands, which offered better specs at lower prices and ultimately dominated the world’s second largest smartphone market. According to Counterpoint, Xiaomi, Samsung, vivo, Realme and Oppo were the top five smartphone brands in India in the second quarter of 2022, with Samsung the only non-Chinese company on the list.
Source: counterpoint research
While we have no news about it from the Indian government yet, this development comes at a time when Chinese smartphone brands Xiaomi, vivo and Oppo are on the Indian government’s radar for illegal business activities in the country, including money laundering and tax evasion. tax.
The Indian government has also banned hundreds of Chinese apps and games in India – including PUBG – after a clash between Indian and Chinese troops along the Himalayan border over two years ago increased tensions between the two nuclear-armed countries.
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