According to research, shipments of smartphones in India fell sharply in the first quarter of 2023, by 19% YoY, to over 31 million devices. The Indian smartphone market had its third straight quarter of drop, the most ever during the first quarter.
Counterpoint’s industry Monitor service claims that a number of reasons, including as weak demand, high inventory build-up from 2022, a rise in customer preference for used phones, and a negative channel perspective of the industry, led to this fall.
With a 20 percent market share, Samsung continued to hold the top spot for smartphones in India for the second consecutive quarter. The business was also in first place for 5G shipments.
Samsung’s ultra-premium sector (>Rs 45,000) surged 247 percent YoY in Q1 2023, according to the study, spurred by the S23 series’ strong introduction and financing options.
With 36 percent and 62 percent of the market share in the premium and ultra-premium segments, respectively, Apple maintained its dominance in both markets. According to Counterpoint, Apple is anticipated to improve its brand image and generate greater development opportunities for the whole Apple ecosystem with the recent launch of its retail shops in the nation.
“Affordability is the key here as we saw more financial schemes being launched, like Apple’s ‘No-cost EMI with zero down payment’ through HDB Financial Services, offers on the latest premium segment launches, increase in trade-in offers, and push from retailers,” said Shilpi Jain, Senior Research Analyst at Counterpoint.
Xiaomi, on the other hand, had a significant decline in Q1 2023. The brand had its worst fall ever, a 44 percent YoY decrease.
According to Counterpoint, “the decline was caused by weak demand in the sub-Rs 10,000 segments, increased dependence on online channels despite higher demand in offline channels, and a confusing portfolio.”
With a growth rate of 72% YoY in Q1 2023, OnePlus became the fastest-growing smartphone brand in India, propelled by high demand for the OnePlus Nord CE 2 Lite and the recently released OnePlus 11 series. The most popular model in Q1 2023 was the Nord CE 2 Lite 5G from OnePlus.