Smartphone sales to remain subdued this year: Experts

Vijay C Roy

Chandigarh, June 9

India’s smartphone market is expected to remain subdued in the current year. According to the industry, challenging economic conditions, increasing lifecycle of smartphones and stable 5G handset prices are the major reasons that would impact the sales.

Flat growth

We expect the market to remain flat in the current year considering the trend in the past five months. The main reason behind the flat growth is people holding their purchase and stable 5G handset prices compared to the past two years.

Sree Hari, product manager, realme india

The total smartphone market stood at 15.5 crore units in 2022 dominated by budget smartphones with prices ranging between Rs 6,000 and Rs 15,000.

“We expect the market to remain flat in the current year considering the trend in the past five months. The main reason behind the flat growth is people holding their purchase and stable 5G handset prices compared to the past two years,” said Sree Hari, product manager, realme India.

The increasing lifecycle of smartphones was “an expected factor in the market”, as users are holding on to their devices for longer than usual. According to the industry, earlier, on an average, smartphone owners used their phones for less than 12 months before upgrading. But now, it has now increased to 18-24 months. Also, the lifecycle of smartphones has been steadily increasing and the devices are getting better.

According to data, India’s smartphone shipments declined 21% in the March quarter as compared to the same period last year. The overall handset market saw a decline of 20% year-on-year (YoY), according to CyberMedia Research (CMR). It noted that challenging economic conditions and slow demand contributed to the decline.

According to Counterpoint Research, smartphone shipments in India fell 9% to 152 million (15.2 crore) units in 2022. The shipments grew 11% in 2021 to 169 million (16.9 crore) units as the Covid forced users to buy smartphones for remote work and education.

However, the industry feels the entry of Jio in mobile financing and other NBFCs like Bajaj Finance may spurt the sales.