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Samsung smartphone shipment increases in the Indian smartphone market in Q3 2020, reclaims second spot
In the last week of March 2020, the Indian Government imposed a nationwide lockdown due to the Covid-19 pandemic. After that, the smartphone market in the country rapidly fallen for a few months. But when the unlock began, Samsung once reclaimed its second position from the Chinese smartphone maker Vivo in the third quarter of 2020.
According to the report of market analysis firm Canalys, Samsung again achieved its second spot in the Indian smartphone market with 20.4% of market share in Q3 2020 in the country. Samsung got a higher market share in comparison to the Vivo due to the anti-China sentiments.
The shipments of smartphones recovered in Q3 2020 with an 8% growth to 50 million units. This is an all-time record for smartphone shipments in a single quarter in India.
Smartphone shipments of Samsung in the third quarter of this year were 10.2 million units which are higher than the previous year’s 9.5 million units. The South Korean smartphone maker got a 7% YoY growth with a 20.4% market share.
Xiaomi continued at the top spot with a 9% YoY growth, shipped 13.1 million shipments with a 26.1% market share.
Chinese smartphone maker, Vivo dropped to third place with a 19% YoY growth, the company collected a 17.6% of total market share. Vivo shipped 8.8 million units in the third quarter of 2020.
Realme lands on fourth with total smartphone shipments of 8.7 million and received a 23% annual growth. The company secured a 17.4% market share in India.
Oppo shipped 6.1 million smartphone units and got a 12.1% of market share. The company obtained 6% of YoY growth.
“The government, slowly but surely reducing restrictions on movement after a three month lockdown, has created the perfect atmosphere for sustained growth. While almost all vendors have shown positive shipment growth, the true winners are the online channels, who have been buoyed with a huge influx of devices ahead of the festive season. Ongoing sales at Amazon and Flipkart are a clear indication that despite the economic downturn, India’s penchant for a good smartphone, and a good bargain, remains intact.” said Canalys Analyst, Adwait Mardikar.
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Samsung could shift its investment from the EV battery business in the US. The company plans to adjust its investment in ESS from EVs due to a sluggish market. The move comes after low demand for EVs, particularly bikes, and growing demand for ESS.
TheElec reports that Samsung eyeing the growing demand for ESS (energy storage systems) in the US. North America’s largest power company NextEra Energy could be awarding Samsung with a potential 1 trillion won ESS order.
Samsung is investing in converting its EV battery pack production line in Michigan, US. The electric bike battery pack line will be dismantled and converted for ESS use. The investment is expected to begin as early as the fourth quarter.
- The ESS battery pack line will be located in Factory 1, where a battery pack line for Harley-Davidson is currently in operation.
- Factory 2 primarily produces battery packs for Stellantis PHEVs, such as the Jeep Wrangler 4xe and Grand Cherokee 4xe.
The Korean tech giant is pursuing a 1 trillion won order for ESS batteries from NextEra Energy. The order is estimated to be around 5GWh. The company has started accelerating its penetration into the ESS market since last year with its Battery Box.
Samsung is exploring advanced sensor-shift image stabilization (OIS) camera tech for future Galaxy phones. The company recently filed a patent application related to image stabilization technology for mobile devices in South Korea.
The latest Samsung patent suggests work on the sensor-shift image stabilization (OIS) camera is underway. However, Apple iPhone-like sensor shift camera tech is far from arriving on Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones.
The patent entitled “Actuator for optical image stabilization and camera module including the same” describes how less force is required to stabilize the sensor itself. This allows for a more precise correction of the sensor position.
The patent document shows that Samsung is continuing to develop its ideas and methods for sensor-shift image stabilization. The absence of such cameras is not a sign that the company has abandoned the idea.
Samsung has been working on sensor-shift image stabilization for years. The company aims to upgrade the Galaxy camera capabilities in the future. The sensor-shift stabilization offers a sharper image by moving the camera sensor.
Previously, patents related to sensor-shift telephoto camera surfaced. However, the Korean tech giant hasn’t commercialized the technology. The patent was published recently, but doesn’t mean we will be seeing this upgrade in the Galaxy S25 series.
The development suggests that Samsung won’t include it on Galaxies till an advanced variant evolves. As the exploration continues, sensor-shift OIS feature remains in hope for the future of Galaxy smartphone segment.
Samsung officially confirmed its teaming up with Qualcomm and Google for XR devices. Now, Qualcomm CEO revealed that the company is working with Samsung and Google to develop mixed-reality smart glasses.
According to the info, Samsung is working on portable mixed-reality smart glasses in collaboration with Qualcomm. Not XR headset, the company’s first extended reality product could be smart glasses with AI for new experiences.
Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon shared new details about Samsung’s upcoming XR product. In an interview to CNBC, Amon confirmed the collab with Samsung will result in “a new product” that offers “new experiences.”
Beyond that, he hinted that this product will likely be a pair of XR smart glasses, not a headset. Just opposite to Apple’s approach, Samsung and Qualcomm aimed to create XR smart glasses that would be portable and easy to carry around.
“I want everyone who has a phone to go buy companion glasses to go along with it,” Amon said. “We need to reach a point where wearing smart glasses feels no different from wearing regular glasses or sunglasses. Only then can we achieve true scale,” he added.
The XR smart glasses could debut later this year, featuring artificial intelligence. Samsung and Qualcomm reportedly aiming to make XR glasses mainstream, while Google could support them with optimized software.
Following the trend, the XR smart glasses could pack on-device AI capabilities. Some AI features will run directly on the device, others on the phone, and certain tasks will require cloud processing – unlocking “a whole new set of experiences.”
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