India Smartphone Shipment Declined by 10 Percent in July-September Quarter: IDC

Smartphone shipment in India declined by 10 percent to hit a three-year low of 43 million shipment in the July-September 2022 period, market research firm International Data Corporation said on Monday.

The 5G smartphone share reached 36 percent of total smartphones during the reported quarter with 16 million units at a slightly higher average selling price of $393 (nearly Rs. 31,900) apiece compared to $377 (nearly Rs. 30,600), in the previous quarter.

"India smartphone market declined 10 percent year-over-year (YoY) shipping 43 million units in July-September 2022. This was the lowest third-quarter shipment since 2019 despite an earlier onset of the Diwali festivities. Weakening demand and increasing device prices negatively impacted festive buying," International Data Corporation's (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker report said.

IDC Device Research Associate Vice President Navkendar Singh said that the inventory pile up and post-festive cyclical demand tapering will lead to a muted December 2022 quarter and the annual shipment of 2022 is likely to decline by 8-9 percent to around 150 million units.

"The major challenges going into 2023 are the impact of inflation on consumer demand, increasing device costs, and slow feature phone-to-smartphone migration. However, the migration of 4G smartphone users to 5G smartphones should give a growth fillip to the market in 2023, especially in the mid-premium and above segments," Singh said.

According to the report, online channels had the upper hand during the September 2022 quarter as they clocked a record 58 percent share, although with flat year-over-year growth with shipment of 25 million units.

"Multiple rounds of eTailer sales (The Big Billion Days on Flipkart and Amazon Great India Festival) were supported by preferential platform pricing, online exclusive deals, and offers and discounts. Amidst all the action in the online channels, offline shipments declined by 20 percent YoY as they struggled to generate demand while competing with aggressive online plays," the report said.

MediaTek-based smartphones increased to 47 percent of the total market, while Qualcomm's decreased to 25 percent with UNISOC following at 15 percent.

Xiaomi led the smartphone market during the quarter with 21.2 percent share while Apple led the premium category with a 63 percent share in the segment.

Xiaomi maintained its lead, but with declining shipments of 18 percent YoY in the September 2022 quarter. More than 70 percent of shipments went to online channels, resulting in a share of 27 percent of the online channel (including sub-brand Poco)," the report said.

Samsung regained second slot with 18.5 percent share. It was followed by Vivo with 14.6 percent share, Realme 14.2 percent and Oppo 12.5 percent market share.

"The sub-$300 (nearly Rs. 24,350) segment underperformed, as shipments declined by 15 percent YoY. The premium segment of over $500 (nearly Rs. 40,600) continued to remain the highest growing price band with 64 percent growth YoY and 8 percent share. Apple led with a 63 percent share of that space, followed by Samsung with 22 percent and OnePlus with 9 percent," the report said.