India Smartphone Sector Stagnant in Q3 2023, Realme Overtakes Vivo in Market Share: IDC

Samsung led the market share with a 16.2 percent share of placements.

Written by Sucharita Ganguly, Edited by Siddharth Suvarna | Updated: 8 November 2023 17:23 IST

India Smartphone Sector Stagnant in Q3 2023, Realme Overtakes Vivo in Market Share: IDC

Photo Credit: Samsung

Samsung Galaxy A14 (pictured) is offered in Black, Dark Red and Light Green colours

Highlights

Shipment of entry-level models grew by 16 percent
The foldable smartphone segment also grew this quarter
Shipments to offline channels were higher than online channels

A recent research states that sluggish performance in the quarter caused India's smartphone market to remain flat year over year in Q3 2023 with shipments of 44 million units. Its forecast for the market in 2023 suggests that shipments will remain steady or decline slightly. The research adds that the first two months of the third quarter, July and August, saw single-digit growth as the channels began early seasonal stocking. However, September saw the lowest shipments since 2019 due to dwindling demand and high prices.

A report by International Data Corporation (IDC) says that the Indian smartphone market maintained a flat 44 million units of shipments in Q3, resulting in a flat growth on a year-on-year basis. The ASP (average selling price) increased by 12 percent YoY and 5 percent QoQ (quarter-over-quarter) and peaked at $253 (roughly Rs. 21,000).

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The report noted that vendors across all channels, online and offline, prioritised budget 5G smartphones over others. 5G smartphone shipments accounted for 25 million units, setting a record 58 percent share. Since most 5G models were released in the mass budget bracket ($100 < $200 (roughly Rs. 8,300 < Rs. 16,700)), the segment's 5G share has increased from 34 percent to 52 percent. The top three 5G models shipped in the third quarter of the year were Apple's iPhone 13, Xiaomi's Redmi 12, and Samsung's Galaxy A14.

Samsung overtook Vivo as the most popular brand, despite a YoY fall in shipments. Among the top five brands, Samsung had the highest ASP at $381 (roughly Rs. 31,700), increasing 43 percent year over year. The report also noted that with the help of the recently released Realme C53 and Realme 11x, the Chinese brand rose to the second position. With the exception of iQoo, Vivo had the fastest growth among the top five brands, thanks to its reasonably priced Vivo Y and Vivo T series phones. Poco and OnePlus both saw YoY growth of 50 percent or more, with the OnePlus Nord CE3 Lite accounting for 35 percent of shipments.

In just one quarter, shipments of foldable phones reached a record 500,000 units, with Samsung holding a 66 percent market share. The average selling price of foldable phones dropped from $1,319 (roughly Rs. 1,09,800) to $1,198 (roughly Rs. 99,800) from a year ago owing to new releases by Motorola at cheaper price points.

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Shipments via offline channels grew by double digits in Q3 2023 and remained bigger than online channels. According to the report, a number of eTailer events (like Amazon Great India Festival and Flipkart's Big Billion Days) with exclusive online deals and special platform pricing helped boost demand online.

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Is the iQoo Neo 7 Pro the best smartphone you can buy under Rs. 40,000 in India? We discuss the company's recently launched handset and what it has to offer on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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iPhone 13

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Great performance
Versatile cameras
Sharp, bright display
Good battery life

Bad
Standard display refresh rate, intrusive notch
Expensive

Read detailed Apple iPhone 13 review

Display 6.10-inch

Processor Apple A15 Bionic

Front Camera 12-megapixel

Rear Camera 12-megapixel + 12-megapixel

Storage 128GB, 256GB, 512GB

OS iOS 15

Resolution 1170x2532 pixels

More Apple mobiles Apple mobiles price in India

Redmi 12 5G

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
5G on a budget
Multiple RAM and storage variants
Main, selfie camera deliver good daylight performance
Great battery life

Bad
Display isn't legible under harsh lighting
No ultra-wide camera
Bloatware in MIUI

Read detailed Xiaomi Redmi 12 5G review

Display 6.79-inch

Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2

Front Camera 8-megapixel

Rear Camera 50-megapixel + 2-megapixel

RAM 4GB, 6GB, 8GB

Storage 128GB, 256GB

Battery Capacity 5000mAh

OS Android 13

Resolution 2460x1080 pixels

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Samsung Galaxy A14 5G

KEY SPECS
NEWS

Display 6.60-inch

Processor 2.2Ghz MHz octa-core

Front Camera 13-megapixel

Rear Camera 50-megapixel + 2-megapixel + 2-megapixel

RAM 4GB, 6GB, 8GB

Storage 64GB, 128GB

Battery Capacity 5000mAh

OS Android 13

Resolution 1080x2408 pixels

More Samsung mobiles Samsung mobiles price in India

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Further reading: India, Smartphones, 5G, Samsung, Samsung Galaxy A14, Apple, iPhone 13, Xiaomi, Redmi 12, Realme, Vivo, Oppo, OnePlus, Poco, Infinix, Tecno

Sucharita Ganguly

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Sucharita is a writer with Gadgets 360 and is mostly found playing with her cat in her free time. She has previously worked at breaking news desks across organizations. Powered by coffee, The Beatles, Bowie, and her newfound love for BTS, she aims to work towards contributing to a better media environment for women and queer folk. More