The Enigma behind India’s Declining Smartphone Shipments.

With 31 million handsets sold to the area, the smartphone market in India had a 16% year-over-year (y-o-y) loss. According to preliminary figures from IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, this was the lowest first-quarter shipment in four years.

According to the research, consumer demand remained weak in the face of uncertain macroeconomic conditions, and inventory levels were high due to heavy stocking in H2 2022. While the percentage of more expensive smartphones (over $600) grew to 11% from 4% the year before, the average selling price (ASP) jumped to a record-breaking $265. The market share of 5G smartphones climbed from 31% in Q1 2022 to 45% in Q2 2022, mostly due to Samsung, which controlled more than a quarter of the market.

According to Upasana Joshi, Research Manager, Client Devices, IDC India, “5G smartphones continue to increase penetration in the low-end price segment, and we should expect a strong 5G play in the $150–300 segment in H2 2023 as high-end 4G models leave the space.”

Shipments to online channels drastically decreased in Q1 2023 as new model releases and alluring channel promotions supported offline channels. After more than five years, Samsung finally took the top spot thanks to the release of inexpensive 5G smartphones and the Galaxy S23 series. Vivo and OPPO (including OnePlus) followed, with Xiaomi falling to fourth place in the first quarter of 2023 as it continued to expand its omnichannel portfolio.

In 2023, the smartphone market in India is going to increase stably.

If marketers deliver appealing holiday offerings across channels to promote affordability, the second half of the year may see some increase. Consumer optimism following the Cricket World Cup (hosted by India), a few significant State elections, and elections in 2024 may help with this, according to Navkendar Singh, Associate Vice President of Devices Research at IDC.