The South Korean electronics major has regained its number two position among smartphone players in India during the April-June period, piping its Chinese rival Vivo. The number one position continues to be with Chinese major Xiaomi.

According to IDC, Samsung had lost the second slot to Vivo in Q4 2019 calendar year.

“Samsung surpassed Vivo for the second slot despite a strong y-o-y decline of 48.5% in Q2 2020 to 4.8 million units. Galaxy M21 was among the nation’s top five shipped models in Q2 2020 and most of its online-exclusive Galaxy M series was opened to offline channels, though at higher prices,” the market research firm said.

The company stood second in the online channel with a share of 22.8% and was the leader in the offline channel with 29.1% share during April-June.

Samsung also partnered with Benow and Facebook, enabling offline retailers to start sales using digital platforms, thus adhering to social distancing norms, IDC added.

Vivo, which slipped to third position, recorded shipments of 3.2 million units, declining 42.9% y-o-y in Q2 2020. Though it retained the fourth position in online channel on the back of Z/U series, Vivo slipped to the second slot in the offline channel with 26.5% share. The affordable Y series continued to garner the majority of its volumes, though stock issues remained.

Samsung was the undisputed leader till the first half of 2017 calendar year, but was replaced for the first time in October-December 2017 by Xiaomi. Two years later, it lost the second spot to Vivo.

Overall, IDC said the smartphone market witnessed a short 50.6% y-o-y decline in the second quarter to 18.2 million units, as India remained under lockdown through the first half of the quarter.

“Vendors faced major supply chain disruptions at the beginning of the quarter, and the shortage continued into the rest of the quarter as factories operated at partial capacity even after the lockdown was lifted. Components and parts remained at the ports waiting to be cleared, especially for China-based vendors,” the report added.

By June, sales increased mainly due to the pent-up demand from the lockdown period. However, purchases were mainly driven by availability rather than by choice.