Apple made its way to the list of top five smartphone brands in Q4 2024, boosted by festive discounts and increased marketing.
Apple and other smartphone makers are relying on GenAI features to boost handset sales
The premium smartphone market in India grew 36 percent year-on-year in 2024, according to a report by CyberMedia Research (CMR). Samsung was the top premium smartphone brand last year, while Apple was one of five top smartphone brands in the country, as the company's share soared by 72 percent in Q4 2024. On the other hand, the budget and midrange segments grew by 1 percent and fell by 7 percent, respectively. The decline of 2G smartphones continued, with a drop of 22 percent YoY in 2024.
According to the research firm's latest report 'India Mobile Handset Market Review Report for CY2024', the premium smartphone market in the country (comprising smartphones priced between Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 50,000) grew by 36 percent, while the super-premium segment (between Rs. 50,000 and Rs. 1 lakh) increased by 10 percent. The uber-premium segment (over Rs. 1 lakh) rose by a more impressive 25 percent, according to the market research firm.
The smartphone maker that witnessed the biggest growth in India in 2024 was Apple, as the iPhone maker broke into the top 5 list in the last quarter of 2024, with a 72 percent YoY increase in market share. Meanwhile, Vivo led the 5G smartphone market in Q4 2024, with a market share of 19 percent, with Samsung close on its heels at 18 percent.
Meanwhile, Xiaomi (including Poco) beat Samsung (16.9 percent) and Vivo (16.7 percent) with an 18 percent market share, to become the top phone maker on CMR's leaderboard for 2024. In the premium smartphone market, Samsung, Apple, and Vivo were the top three brands last year, with 28 percent, 25 percent, and 15 percent, respectively.
Both the 4G smartphone segment and feature phones with 2G connectivity saw a decline of 59 percent and 22 percent, YoY in Q4 2024, respectively. On the other hand, budget smartphones (priced under Rs. 7,000) grew by 1 percent over the past year.
In Q4 2024, Vivo led the market (18 percent) with the Vivo T3x 5G, Vivo Y28s 5G, and VIvo T3 Lite 5G. Xiaomi was in second place (15.2 percent), boosted by sales of the Redmi 13C 5G, Redmi A3x, and Redmi A4 5G. Samsung was right behind Xiaomi with 15.1 percent market share, according to the CMR report. Meanwhile, Carl Pei-led Nothing grew over 800 percent in the last quarter, thanks to the Nothing Phone 2a series and products from its sub-brand, CMF.
Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips powered one in three of all premium smartphones launched in 2024, while MediaTek-equipped smartphones notched an impressive 52 percent market share. Midrange and high-end smartphones today are now available with generative AI (GenAI) features, and CMR predicts that smartphone shipments in 2025 likely to see single-digit growth.
“As India's smartphone market evolves in 2025, the premium segment (>INR 25,000) will continue to grow, driven by rising consumer demand. Smartphone OEMs will reposition their product strategies from primarily hardware-centric to GenAI-centric product strategies with a simultaneous focus on innovating in the value-for-money and affordable smartphone segments to cater to mass-market demand,” said Pankaj Jadli, Analyst at CMR.
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