NEW DELHI, May 6 -- Xiaomi once sold one in every four smartphones in India. By 2025, it had fallen out of the country's top five brands. The reversal marks one of the steepest declines in India's smartphone market, as rivals moved into premium devices and strengthened their offline retail networks.

At its peak in 2021, the company shipped over 40 million smartphones in India-the highest-ever annual tally for a single brand in the country, according to International Data Corp. (IDC). Samsung India, its nearest rival, sold 28 million devices that year.

Xiaomi led India's smartphone market for five consecutive years from 2017 to 2022.

By 2025, Xiaomi shipped just 13.7 million devices, according to data from IDC.

Electronics, retail and ...