India Smartphone Market Falls Lowest Since 2019, Online Sales Channels See Record Growth in Q3

The premium segment of above $500 continued to remain the highest-growing price band, led by Apple with a 63 per cent share of that space, followed by Samsung and OnePlus.

Weakening demand and increasing device prices negatively impacted festive buying in Q3.

India smartphone market declined 10 per cent year-over-year (YoY) shipping 43 million units in the third quarter (Q3) (July-September) of 2022, says a new report. According to the International Data Corporation’s (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker report, this was the lowest third-quarter shipment since 2019 despite an earlier onset of the Diwali festivities, courtesy of weakening demand and increasing device prices that negatively impacted festive buying.

The premium segment of above $500 continued to remain the highest-growing price band with 64 per cent growth YoY and 8 per cent share. The premium segment was led by Apple with a 63 per cent share of that space, followed by Samsung and OnePlus with 22 per cent and 9 per cent share, respectively.

The top three smartphone companies, according to market share were Xiaomi with a 21.2 per cent share, followed by Samsung and Vivo with 18.5 per cent and 14.6 per cent share, respectively. The sub-$300 segment underperformed, as shipments declined by 15 per cent YoY.

However, online sales channels clocked a record 58 per cent share, although with flat YoY growth shipping 25 million units. Multiple rounds of e-tailer sales (The Big Billion Days on Flipkart and Amazon Great India festival) were supported by preferential platform pricing, online exclusive deals, and offers.

Amidst all the action in the online channels, offline shipments declined by 20 per cent YoY as they struggled to generate demand while competing with aggressive online plays. High channel inventory continued to be a concern even with smartphone players' efforts on channel schemes and price corrections to clear the stocks. Overall, the average selling price (ASP) reached a record $226, growing by 15 per cent YoY and 6 per cent QoQ.

“The ASP has grown consistently for the past eight quarters in a row due to increasing costs and growing 5G shipments at mid-premium price points,” Upasana Joshi, Research Manager, Client Devices, IDC India, said in a statement.

Chip maker MediaTek outpaced Qualcomm as MediaTek-based smartphones increased to 47 per cent of the total market while Qualcomm’s share decreased to 25 per cent with UNISOC following at 15 per cent.