Xiaomi, Vivo, Realme and Oppo in high demand: Indians lapping up Chinese brands despite intense scrutiny
As per market trackers Counterpoint Research and IDC, four Chinese brands-Xiaomi, Vivo, Realme and Oppo-are ranked in the top five for smartphones. The only one not from that country is South Korea's Samsung. Industry executives estimate this will translate into combined sales of almost Rs 90,000-95,000 crore.
China's Xiaomi was examined by Indian government agencies over alleged foreign exchange violations in 2022, which coincided with a large proportion of its top leadership changing. The company ceded its No. 1 spot in the December quarter of 2022 to Samsung, eventually sliding to fourth. But by the June quarter this year, Xiaomi was back at the top on the back of an aggressive expansion in offline retail. Vivo is another Chinese company that has faced investigations over allegations of tax violations and money laundering.
The Chinese have also gained ground in the fiercely competitive home appliances and TV segments, where the number of popular brands exceeds that of smartphones-as much as 40 in ACs to 15 in TVs. Qingdao-based Haier ranks fourth in refrigerators after LG, Samsung and Whirlpool, and also fourth in TVs after LG, Samsung and Sony, industry executives said, citing sales researcher GfK's figures for January to June of this year.
«Indians no longer perceive these brands as Chinese and consider them international brands,» said Nilesh Gupta, director at Vijay Sales, a leading consumer electronics retail chain present in Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad. «They have created brand equity for
