In-depth: iQOO, Poco outpaced parents in India. Can sub-brands continue this momentum?

Time of India

17 hours ago

NEW DELHI:
iQOO
and
Poco
have proven beneficial for their parents,
Vivo
and
Xiaomi
, helping penetrate deeper into online channels and certain demographics in the last two to three years. However, a broader market stagnation, demand saturation in urban regions, and flailing online channel sales have impacted nearly all brands, with Vivo being the only outlier.
iQOO, launched in 2020, and Poco, launched in 2018, have a targeted portfolio of smartphones, backed by retail strategies, that cater to niche demographies such as Gen-Z and gamers, discouraging competition with the parent brand.
Vivo primarily operates as an offline-focused brand, selling smartphones at all price points. In contrast, iQOO began as an online-first brand, targeting the mid-premium gaming segment. Xiaomi commenced as an online-centric brand, but it has an omnichannel presence today, and utilises Poco to cater to entry-level online consumers seeking a balance of hardware-to-price performance.
'We're seeing sub-brands outperform their parent brands recently, and that's largely because they are growing from a lower base. But it's not just about scale, it's also about sharper focus. While the parent brands have broader portfolios aimed at multiple price tiers and consumer types, sub-brands are more targeted,' Shubham Nimkar, analyst at
Counterpoint Research
, told
ETTelecom
.
The market tracker's data shows that Poco's shipments grew strongly at 38% year-on-year in 2023, but moderated to 11% year-on-year in 2024. iQOO's volumes were, however, down by 34% year-on-year in 2023, but rose by 69% compared to the previous year in 2024.
Today, both brands cumulatively hold less than 10% market share. In the January-March 2025 quarter, iQOO had a 5% share, while Poco's share stood at 2% only.Counterpoint Research data.
Historically, Poco and iQOO had achieved a peak market share of 4% and 2% in Q2 2022 and Q3 2022, respectively. The latest data from the market tracker then implies that both sub-brands have not been able to take a substantial slice of the volume pie despite the market size primarily hovering between 150-155 million units in the last two years.
The International Data Corporation's (
IDC
) findings paint a more striking picture. Poco's volume share declined from 5.9% in Q1 2024 to just 4.3% in Q1 2025. During the same period, iQOO's share fell from 2.8% to 2.3%.
Poco declined to comment on ETTelecom's queries.
'At iQOO, our focus remains sharp on the ₹20,000 to ₹40,000 smartphone segment—where we cater to youth, young professionals, and heavy multitaskers,' Nipun Marya, CEO, iQOO India, told
ETTelecom
, adding that the brand has launched a variety of smartphones, including the iQOO Neo 10R, iQOO Neo 10, and iQOO Z10, to bring flagship-grade devices to the mass market.
'As we move through 2025, we are doubling down on performance, building smartphones that are optimised for intensive tasks like faster AI image generation, video editing, rendering, running multiple apps simultaneously, and handling office-grade productivity tools,' Marya said.
Mainline expansion crucial for future growth?
With that said, analysts and mainline retailers cautioned that both sub-brands should extensively revamp their marketing and retail strategies to grow substantially in the coming quarters.
"Having operated in the Indian smartphone market for a considerable period, both sub-brands are well-positioned for growth in the coming quarters."Upasana Joshi, principle analyst (smartphones, wearables and smart home research) for South Asia, IDC, told ETTelecom.
'Both iQOO and POCO have proven beneficial to their respective parent companies. Poco, now diversified into offline channels, is a strong contender in the entry-level segment, but needs more marketing efforts to expand further. Meanwhile, iQOO requires increased offline presence and offerings in the low-to-mid price segments,' she added.
IDC estimates that iQOO has an average selling price (ASP) of $220-240 (~₹18,800-20,500), compared to Poco's $115 (~₹9,800) in India.
Kailash Lakhyani, founder chairman of the
All India Mobile Retailers Association
(AIMRA) & founder member of Organized Retailers Association (ORA), told
ETTelecom
that Poco and iQOO are not providing sufficient handset stocks to mainline retailers, thereby impacting buyers.
'They are not bothered whether these stocks are selling through aggregators to the gray market and then to smaller retailers, ultimately reaching consumers,' Lakhyani said. 'Their primary aim is to compete with other online-centric brands such as Motorola, Samsung M & F Series, Vivo T series, and Oppo K series,' he added.
Delhi-based AIMRA represents 1.5 lakh mainline retailers, while ORA counts 20 members. They allege that Poco and iQOO's business practices are causing losses to the national exchequer.
Reshuffle in top 5 brands
Meanwhile, a separate story is playing out among the top five brands.
IDC found that Xiaomi's shipments (excluding Poco) fell by 42% year-on-year, pushing it to the sixth rank in India in Q1 2025, with a market share of 7.8%. First-ranked Vivo's shipments grew by 14.6% year-on-year, holding a 19.7% share.
'Xiaomi's reduced shipments stemmed from a combination of issues, including internal management changes, difficulties within their offline sales channels, a strategic reorganisation of their product portfolio that led to a leaner offering concentrated at the low end and hindered their expansion into mid-to-high price segments, and intense competition from rival brands,' Joshi said.
Counterpoint's Nimkar said that Xiaomi's shipments in the March 2025 quarter were weighed down by elevated inventory levels, with several of its key smartphones logging lower-than-expected sales, which prompted the brand to take a cautious approach by clearing its stock rather than pushing shipments into channels.
Per Counterpoint, Xiaomi had a peak share of 23% in Q1 2022, but has been losing ground to rivals since then, particularly Samsung and Vivo, which continue to retain their market leadership.
'Vivo's growth in the Indian smartphone market over the past three quarters can be attributed to its balanced product portfolio, consistent innovation in areas such as camera, battery, and fast charging, and its strong presence in the mainline retail channel,' he said of Vivo.
According to Counterpoint, Vivo is well-positioned to continue its momentum across all price segments, with a particular push in the premium segment through the expansion of the X and V-series models.