Shangliao Sun
Research expert covering India
Smartphone market in India - statistics & facts
If you ask someone from India 15 years ago, smartphones would be viewed as a luxury item that only a small portion of the population could afford. Back then, it was hard to believe that the Indian smartphone market could become the second largest in the world. It was a combination of rising disposable incomes, cheaper smartphones and internet, and the need to always stay connected that drove the substantial growth. For many people in India, smartphone is their only point of access to the internet. However, compared to other markets across the globe, India’s smartphone penetration rate is still relatively low. The demand for smartphones is likely to grow even further in the future as a sizable share of the population did not own a phone or were planning to switch from a feature phone to a smartphone.
Xiaomi was one of the leading players in the Indian smartphone market. It sold phones under the brand names Mi, Redmi, and POCO. The company was able to achieve this success due to several factors such as tailoring its strategy to the country’s needs, relocating supply chains to the country, and investing in the domestic distribution network and research and development. Other Chinese original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) present in the Indian market were Vivo, Oppo, and Realme.
The smartphone segment, in general, is changing rapidly. The average selling price of smartphones in the South Asian country has fluctuated significantly over the years and was around 255 U.S. dollars as of 2023. More than 30 major brands were trying to gain their market share in the Indian smartphone market. To achieve their goals, smartphone OEMs had to invest huge amounts of capital. This cut-throat competition led to the exit of over 40 smartphone companies from the country, including Sony and HTC.
Chinese manufacturers in India
A slowdown in the global smartphone market in 2019, and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic from 2020, disrupted smartphone sales in India. And the impact could still be seen as of 2023. Chinese-branded smartphones dominated the market, more than 60 percent of the phones sold in the country were made by Chinese smartphone companies, despite fierce competition from the Korean giant Samsung.Xiaomi was one of the leading players in the Indian smartphone market. It sold phones under the brand names Mi, Redmi, and POCO. The company was able to achieve this success due to several factors such as tailoring its strategy to the country’s needs, relocating supply chains to the country, and investing in the domestic distribution network and research and development. Other Chinese original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) present in the Indian market were Vivo, Oppo, and Realme.
Indian phone brands
With the entry of Chinese companies, established Indian smartphone manufacturers were sidelined and lost their market share. To encourage localized manufacturing and to increase the value of domestic phone manufacturing in the country, the government introduced a production-linked incentive scheme for large electronics manufacturing companies, both domestic and foreign.The smartphone segment, in general, is changing rapidly. The average selling price of smartphones in the South Asian country has fluctuated significantly over the years and was around 255 U.S. dollars as of 2023. More than 30 major brands were trying to gain their market share in the Indian smartphone market. To achieve their goals, smartphone OEMs had to invest huge amounts of capital. This cut-throat competition led to the exit of over 40 smartphone companies from the country, including Sony and HTC.
