NEW DELHI: Online channels are likely to account for the highest share ever 45 percent of smartphone sales in 2020 due to the COVID-19 situation that people prefer to buy devices online to maintain social distance, a new report said.

“Led by Flipkart again, India's online smartphone market reached its highest-ever share at 45 percent in 2020, registering a growth of seven percent (on-year) in a pandemic-hit year” the report quoted.

Flipkart remained the top online platform with 48 percent share, followed by Amazon which captured 44 percent share. Amazon grew 34 percent (on-year) and was the fastest growing online platform, Counterpoint Research said late on Friday. Xiaomi remained the top online brand with a 40 per cent market share driven by the Redmi as well as Poco brand smartphones.

With 19 percent, Samsung captured the second position in the India online smartphone market driven by the Galaxy M-series. Samsung captured more than one-third of shipments on Amazon.

Realme was third in the online segment, also with 19 percent share. According to Counterpoint, realme remained the top smartphone brand on Flipkart in 2020, registering a growth of 27 percent (on-year).

Vivo captured the fourth position due to strong shipments of the Y91i, Y20 and V20 series. "OnePlus was the top online premium smartphone brand on Amazon and captured the fifth position in the overall online smartphone market," the report mentioned.

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