The smartphone market reached an “all-time high” of 42.6 million-unit shipments in Q3 2018, while the feature phone market registered shipments of 43.1 million units, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.

The smartphone market registered a 9.1 per cent year-on-year growth, while that of feature phone market was 2.1 per cent.

Equal contribution

The report said that for the first time, the smartphone market contributed as much as the feature phone market in the third quarter of 2018, with each contributing 50 per cent to the overall mobile phone market. With the onset of the festival season, shipments were primarily driven by the e-tailer channel.

According to Upasana Joshi, Associate Research Manager, channel research, at IDC India, multiple financing options, buyback guarantees, and online exclusive portfolios by brands such as Xiaomi, Honor, Realme, Asus and OnePlus resulted in quarter-on-quarter growth of 37 per cent, taking the online share to 39 per cent in Q3 2018.

Realme and Asus entered the top five online brand list. In the $400-plus price segment, OnePlus marked its highest shipments in a quarter.

Xiaomi grew to a new high, shipping 11.7 million units on the back of its Redmi 5A and Redmi Note 5 Pro series and refreshed Redmi 6 , 6A and Pro portfolio.

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