The premium smartphone market saw a robust growth with Apple capturing 7% market share in Q4 2023.
India’s smartphone market witnessed a significant surge during the Q4 2023 festival season, with shipments reaching 38.9 million units, marking a 20% year-on-year increase. Investments in mainline retail spaces in 2023 proved beneficial for both vendors and market stabilization.
Overall, the Indian smartphone market in 2023 remained stable with a total of 148.6 million shipments, a slight 2% decrease from the previous year. Despite inventory challenges, minimal inflation improvements, and fluctuating demand, the market showed resilience, bolstered by growing consumer confidence later in the year.
Samsung led the market in Q4 2023, holding a 20% share with 7.6 million units shipped. Xiaomi followed closely, securing the second spot with 7.2 million units, while vivo claimed third place with 7.0 million units. Realme and OPPO (excluding OnePlus) completed the top five, shipping 4.5 million and 3.7 million units, respectively.
Xiaomi and Realme achieved their highest offline shipment share in Q4. Xiaomi’s balanced approach to offline and online channels, with products like Redmi 12 5G and Redmi 13C, boosted its offline presence. Realme mirrored this strategy, with the Narzo series focusing on e-commerce and other products performing well in offline channels.
The premium segment of the market witnessed robust growth, driven by factors such as easy financing options, retailer incentive schemes, and rising disposable incomes. Apple leveraged the Diwali festival in November 2023 to promote its iPhone 15 series, capturing 7% of the market share in Q4. Samsung also focused on its premium segment, setting aggressive retail targets for its Galaxy S23 series and launching the Galaxy S23 FE.
Vendors are optimistic about the consumer market for coming up election year, expecting growth driven by affordable 5G and replacement cycles from the pandemic period. According to a Canalys report managing rising material costs will be a significant challenge for vendors in 2024.
