Festive fever lifts India’s smartphone market in the third quarter of 2025 as brands flood shelves, with vivo on top, Apple surging, and retailers wooed by gold coins and big incentives.
India’s smartphone market returned to growth in the third quarter of 2025, with shipments rising 2% year-on-year (YoY) to 48.4 million units. According to recent data by Omdia, the brands are pushing stock into the channel early, anticipating strong festive spending.
Analysts say the improvement did not reflect a major revival in consumer demand. Shipments were lifted by a series of product launches in July and August, combined with aggressive retail incentives and an earlier festive cycle that encouraged faster inventory placement.
Among the vendors, vivo, excluding its iQOO sub-brand, remained the market leader. It shipped 9.7 million units and secured a 20% share. Samsung followed with 6.8 million units for a 14% share. Xiaomi claimed third place with 6.5 million units, just ahead of OPPO, also at 6.5 million units, but with a slightly lower share. Apple climbed back into the top five with 4.9 million units, supported by rising demand in smaller Indian cities.
“Channel push, not pure demand recovery, supported the market,” said Sanyam Chaurasia, Principal Analyst at Omdia. He noted that vendors boosted retail schemes, from cash-per-unit incentives to dealer contests featuring rewards such as gold coins, motorcycles and overseas trips.
Moreover, financing options for consumers expanded too, including zero-down-payment EMIs, micro-instalments and extended warranties.
vivo widened its lead with stronger offline retail presence. Samsung gained traction in mid-premium models like the Snapdragon-powered S24 and S25 FE, though it struggled in the entry segment. OPPO focused on an extensive festive channel campaign centred on the F31 series.
Outside the top rankings, Motorola recorded its highest volume in India at 4 million units, up 53% year on year. The G-series and Edge 60 lineup supported offline expansion. Nothing increased shipments by 66% as its CMF Phone 2 Pro and Phone 3a accelerated sales, while CMF repositioned itself as a locally headquartered sub-brand through a partnership with Optimus.
Apple achieved a 10% market share and its highest quarterly shipments in India. Demand came from aspirational first-time buyers under discount-driven upgrades of older iPhones, while the iPhone 17 base model gained early momentum.
However, despite the positive quarter, Omdia cautions that year-end performance may soften. Urban consumers remain cautious due to job uncertainties and higher costs. Rural demand is steady but not enough to offset slower upgrades. Analysts expect a slight decline for full-year 2025 as the recovery stays fragile and inventory pressure rises.
