Samsung Slips to Second Place in India as Smartphone Market Cools in 2025

Samsung has a deep relationship with India, one of its most important markets. So while Samsung’s big launch events in India still grab attention, they didn’t translate into stronger overall sales last year. According to estimates from Omdia, the company shipped fewer phones in 2025 than it did the year before.

Samsung loses ground in India as 2025 smartphone demand softens

Shipments of Samsung smartphones in India fell to about 23 million units in 2025, down from roughly 25.7 million in 2024. The decline pushed Samsung into second place, with vivo moving ahead after shipping around 32 million phones during the year. While Samsung remains one of the strongest brands in the country, it no longer leads in terms of overall shipment volume.

The broader market wasn’t exactly booming either. Total smartphone shipments in India slipped slightly in 2025, ending the year at just over 154 million units. Rising component costs, especially for memory, and a weaker currency forced brands to bump up prices across multiple segments. That made budget phones harder to sell, and those devices still make up a large chunk of the Indian market.

Things slowed down even more toward the end of the year. In the final quarter of 2025, smartphone shipments fell noticeably compared to the same period in 2024. Consumers had already spent heavily during the festive season (Flipkart’s BBD, Amazon’s GIF sales). Retailers were sitting on extra stock, and price hikes left fewer compelling upgrade options in the lower price brackets. During that quarter, vivo stayed on top, Samsung followed, and OPPO managed to edge past Xiaomi in shipments.

Some competitors actually grew despite the slowdown. vivo and OPPO posted strong gains. And Samsung’s biggest competitor, Apple, also expanded its footprint, even though it only sells relatively expensive iPhones. It now sits among the top five smartphone brands in the country by volume.