Samsung suffers big drop in Q1 2025, falls behind Vivo in India

Q1 2025 is fast becoming a quarter to forget for Samsung. Apple managed to wrestle the Q1 lead from Samsung for the first time this year, and the latest figures from India show that the company met intense competition from China's Vivo in one of its biggest markets.

Market research from Canalys reveals that Vivo took the top spot in the Indian market for Q1 2025 while Samsung dropped in second place due to a 23% decline in shipments compared to Q1 2024.

India's smartphone market remained muted overall in Q1 2025, down 8% compared to the previous year, as demand remained weak and remaining 2024 inventory remained high, forcing companies to manage product launch cycles and adapt strategies.

Vivo's Q1 2025 smartphone shipments came in at 7 million units, accounting for 22% of the market. It registered an annual growth of 13% over the 6.2 million units shipped in Q1 2024. Samsung took second place on the list with 5.1 million units shipped and a 16% market share. This was a 23% decline over the 6.7 million units shipped in the same period last year.

The market research firm does highlight a change in Samsung's strategies which are now focused more towards upgrading consumers to more premium devices. Samsung's Galaxy S25 series saw a 5% improvement in shipments compared to its predecessor in the first quarter of last year. The increase is attributed to momentum for its premium handsets and new AI features.

An increased focus on premium handsets would help Samsung improve its margins on devices, so even if it takes a hit on absolute shipment numbers, it could potentially end up making the same amount of money, or even more, depending on how its flagship devices perform.