Smartphone shipments in India drop for the third consecutive quarter as prices continue to rise

Smartphone prices have been rising for quite some time now. There has been a steady increase in the prices of even the budget devices, with smartphones with similar features costing higher than what they did a few years ago.

According to a report by the International Data Corporation (IDC), the average selling prices (ASPs) of smartphones continued to rise for the fourth consecutive quarter in India, hitting an all-time high of $211 (nearly ₹16,323) in the January-March quarter, on the back of increased prices both for existing and newly launched devices.

While MediaTek-based smartphones had a market share of 51% at an ASP of $174 (about ₹13,461), Qualcomm made a recovery, increasing its market share to 28% with an ASP of $244 (nearly ₹18,870), according to the report.

The sub-$200 segment struggled as shipments dropped by 16%, but the mid-range segment of $200-$300 grew to 18% share from 14% in the first quarter.

It is to be noted that 5G smartphones accounted for around 31% of the total devices shipped in the country. 5G is expected to commercially rollout by the end of the year.

Overall, India smartphone shipments declined for the third consecutive quarter, shipping 37 million smartphone units in the first quarter, a drop of 5% (YoY).

The opening of the year was relatively slower as compared with 1Q21, due to the impact of the third wave of COVID, tight supplies especially for the low-end price segments, and rising inflation leading to increasing end consumer prices, the report mentioned.

The pandemic-induced surge in eTailer shares over the past two years subsided with a marginal drop to 49% in Q1, but with 7% YoY growth in shipments.
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