India shipped close to 31 million smartphones in the Jan-Mar quarter; IDC forecasts flat growth in India’s smartphone market this year
As per the International Data Corporation’s (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker preliminary data, India shipped close to 31 million smartphones in 1Q23 (Jan-Mar), witnessing a 16% YoY (year-over-year) fall. IDC reported the numbers as the lowest first-quarter shipments in the last four years. In the said time period, while consumer demand didn’t see any major uptick thanks to the uncertain macroeconomic space, inventory grew even more because of already high stocking in 2H22. For this year, IDC forecasts flat growth in India’s smartphone market.
Notably, the ASP (average selling price) reached an all-time high of $265 and the share of higher-priced smartphones ($600+) increased to 11% compared to 4% a year ago.
The 5G Zone
As the 5G service picks pace in the country, the report noted that the share of 5G smartphones has increased to 45%, up from 31% in 1Q22. In the category, Samsung topped by grabbing over a quarter of the shipments. “5G smartphones continue to increase penetration in the low-end price segment and we should expect a strong 5G play in the US$150<US$300 segment in 2H23 as high-end 4G models vacate the space,” opined Upasana Joshi, Research Manager of Client Devices with IDC India.
The Online-Offline Tussle
Interestingly, offline channels were backed by some new model launches and attractive channel promotions this quarter. This led to online channels witnessing a major decline in shipments. IDC mentioned that Samsung launched affordable 5G smartphones and the Galaxy S23 series and therefore, reached the first spot after over five years. vivo stood second with its continued efforts to build an omnichannel portfolio, followed by OPPO (including OnePlus) and Xiaomi.
Associate Vice President of Devices Research at IDC, Navkendar Singh stated, “The second half of the year can bring some growth if brands bring attractive festive offerings across the channels to drive affordability. This can be facilitated by consumer optimism on the back of the Cricket World Cup (hosted by India), a few key state elections, followed by Union elections in 2024.”
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