Vivo overtakes OPPO to become largest Smartphone brand in China for the first time

Balaji S — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 11:30:37 +0000

After recovering from the COVID-19 dip, the China Smartphone market is on the rise. The latest report by Counterpoint shows that Vivo has overhauled OPPO to become the largest smartphone brand in China.

Representative image: Pile of Smartphones

Earlier in March, a similar report showed that OPPO became the No.1 Smartphone brand for the first time in January 2021. Now, Vivo has taken its turn to jump ahead of OPPO thanks to budget Vivo Y and S models.

That is, as of March 28, 2021(Week 13), Vivo holds the top spot with a market share of 24% as opposed to OPPO‘s 21% and Huawei‘s 15%. Comparing with the last report, we can see that Vivo has nearly grown its market share by 4% since January.

Do note that here Vivo also includes its sub-brand iQOO while OPPO’s share doesn’t include realme and OnePlus. Similarly, the share of Huawei, which led the smartphone market in 2021, doesn’t include its ex-sister HONOR.

Credit: Counterpoint Research

Huawei’s rivals have been seeking to steal the legend’s lost market share for a while and it is clearly evident in the latest report. Anyway, the report says that 76% of Vivo’s sales in February 2021 accounts 5G portfolio.

This is a significant bump up from 0.5% in 2019 when it started churning out 5G devices like Vivo Nex 3. Also, Vivo is said to be positioning its product lineup very well with NEX, X, S, Y series. The first two are flagship with camera upgrades(like ZEISS tie-up) while the latter two are more affordable devices.

Not to mention the iQOO has been on a ride with more focus on the online market. OPPO, on the other hand, has flagship Reno and mid-range A devices. Let’s wait and see if Vivo is able to hold the spot with more to come in the next Quarter.

Vivo China Number One Smartphone Brand March 2021 Archives - Gizmochina

Vivo overtakes OPPO to become largest Smartphone brand in China for the first time