Calls for boycott of goods made in China has not affected sales, executives of leading Chinese electronic and smartphone brands in the country, retail chains and ecommerce platforms have said.
#BoycottChineseProducts has been trending on social media for two days after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a bloody clash with the Chinese in Ladakh but for Chinese brands it is “business as usual”, The Economic Times reported.
“There is no dip in sales of Chinese smartphone and electronic products,” a senior executive with a leading ecommerce platform told the newspaper.
Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.
Notably, Xiaomi sold out laptops it launched on June 17. The Chinese brand is India’s largest smartphone maker. It sold the laptops on self-owned platform Mi.com.
A spokesperson for the company told ET: “there has been good demand for products across online and offline channels. Post lockdown relaxations, we have seen a gradual surge in sales and received great consumer response for some of our recently launched products.”
Other brands have gone ahead with flash sales on Flipkart and Amazon.
“Vivo undertook a dipstick consumer study on June 16 through its 30,000 strong shop floor executives who said there was no impact on purchase patterns or consumer sentiments,” an executive said.
AC brand Carrier Midea India, a US-China joint venture, also saw no dip in demand. MD Krishan Sachdev also emphasised that while a foreign brand, “all products are locally manufactured”.
Oppo, while cancelling its online live stream, went ahead and launched its 5G offering the X2 Pro. OnePlus has scheduled the launch of new smart TVs in July and RealMe CEO Madhav Sheth announced launches around June-end.
RealMe, OnePlus, Oppo and Vivo did not respond to queries, the newspaper said.
Given the market share that Chinese brands enjoy in India, consumers have no other choice, experts say.
Counterpoint Research found that in January-March 2020, Chinese brands controlled 81 percent of India’s smartphone market.
“Indian users don’t have much choice. India brands now have 1 percent share and Samsung, Apple are the only non-Chinese alternatives available,” Tarun Pathak, associate director at Counterpoint Research said.
Navkender Singh, research director at IDC India, said retailers would not discriminate as long as sales continue: “Consumers don’t have much money to spend and they don’t care about these issues,” he said.
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