Poco’s success story in the Indian smartphone market is showing no signs of slowing down. As per market research firm Canalys, Poco is now the fastest-growing smartphone brand in India in the online channel. It has managed to achieve the milestone in times when the overall Indian smartphone market is struggling with a decline in sales.
The report says Poco registered an impressive 68% year-on-year (YoY) growth in sales during the first quarter of the year. In comparison, India’s overall smartphone market saw a 10-15% decline during the same period. Even online sales of mobile phones are now 20% down.
There are multiple reasons responsible for Poco’s continued growth. Himanshu Tandon, Poco India’s Country Head, said they have 60% repeat customers which is undoubtedly an impressive figure. The company has loyalty and upgrade programs that help it achieve sales numbers that keep increasing.
He further added that the launch of three new Poco C-series smartphones under INR 10,000 and the Poco X5 Pro in the INR 20,000-25,000 price segment acted as a catalyst in terms of sales. The three budget phones in question here are the Poco C51, Poco C55, and Poco C50 which target entry-level buyers.
Poco India has now expecting to see 75% to 80% YoY growth in 2023. This is certainly an ambitious target but Tandon says preliminary numbers for the second quarter are even higher than the first quarter. The company is also shifting its focus to offline channels as it has set up four distributors in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Ahmedabad.
Most recently, the Poco F5 series featuring Poco F5 and Poco F5 Pro was launched. Only the vanilla Poco F5 was made available in India which is the first Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2-powered smartphone in the country. It also boasts a 120Hz refresh rate, a 64MP camera setup with OIS, and 67W fast charging. The phone impressed us with its flagship performance, 12-bit display, practical camera configuration, great speakers, and effective thermals.
The company also launched a budget smartphone Poco C51 recently in India. It is a phone that offers a 6.52-inch HD+ display, MediaTek Helio G36 processor, a big 5000mAh battery, and Android 13 Go Edition software under INR 10,000.
