India’s smartphone share up 7.2% YoY, reaches 69mn devices in 1H24

India’s smartphone market share increased 7.2 per cent year on year, with manufacturers in the country shipping around 69 million devices in the first half of 2024, according to the Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker of International Data Corporation (IDC) that was released on Tuesday.

Registering a surge of 3.2 per cent in the second quarter of 2024, manufacturers shipped nearly 35 million smartphones during the period, said the report from IDC, which is a global provider of market intelligence, advisory services and events for IT, telecommunications and consumer technology markets.

The IDC report also observed that consumers in India have increasingly been showing a partiality for the latest handsets and technology such as 5G, and revealing ample purchasing power. The average selling price of smartphones increased by 2.8 per cent in the quarter of April to June although prices fell by 5.6 per cent in the January-March quarter.

APPLE LEADS PREMIUM SEGMENTS, XIAOMI TOPS ENTRY LEVEL

The super-premium segment (phones costing $800 and above) continues to see a surge with 22 per cent increase in sales, and the segment share going up from 6 per cent to 7 per cent. Apple’s iPhone15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus together comprised 77 per cent of shipments. Samsung Galaxy S24 and S24 Ultra occupied 11 per cent share. Overall, Apple topped the segment with a share of 83 per cent while Samsung was a distant second with a 16 per cent share, IDC data showed.

The premium segment (phones costing $600 to $800) held 2 per cent share and witnessed a fall of 37 per cent in unit terms. The bestsellers in the segment were Apple’s iPhone 13, Samsung Galaxy S23FE, Apple’s iPhone 12 and OnePlus12. Apple’s shipment share increased to 61 per cent year on year in this segment while Samsung’s share rose to 24 per cent from 21 per cent in the previous year.

The mid-premium segment (costs ranging from $400 to $600) saw a drop in sales to a 4 per cent market share, from 5 per cent year on year. Vivo led the segment with a 25 per cent share, followed by OnePlus and Oppo, the report from IDC said.

The entry-premium segment (phones ranging from $200 to $400) has captured a share of 30 per cent, up from 22 per cent. The segment has registered its highest growth rate of 42 per cent year on year. Oppo, Vivo and Samsung have been big gainers in this segment, and comprise nearly 60 per cent of the segment.

There was an 8 per cent growth (year on year) in shipments of the mass budget segment (smartphones costing between $100 and $200) and the share of this segment grew marginally, from 42 per cent to 44 per cent. Xiaomi led this segment with Realme and Vivo in second and third spot respectively, according to IDC.

While Xiaomi also leads the entry level segment (smartphones costing below $100), followed by Poco and Realme, the overall share of this segment saw a decline of 36 per cent year on year from 22 per cent a year ago.

SURGE IN 5G PHONES

In all, 27 million 5G smartphones were shipped in the quarter, with the share of 5G smartphone shipments growing to 77 per cent, up from 49 per cent in quarter two of 2023, while the average selling price (ASP) of 5G smartphones fell by 22 per cent year on year to $293.

Mass budget 5G phones saw a surge in shipments to reach 45 per cent share. Xiaomi’s Redmi 13C, Oppo’s F25 Pro, Realme’s 12x, Xiaomi’s Redmi 12 and Realme’s C65, were the highest shipped 5G models in quarter two of 2024,

Online shipment rose by 8 per cent year on year, and its share grew to 50 per cent in the second quarter of 2024 compared to 47 per cent in 2023. Motorola entered the top five vendors’ list in the online segment, at the fourth slot, while Vivo rose to position number two. Heatwave across India was a reason why offline shipments dropped by 2 per cent year on year in the second quarter 2024.

Overall, Motorola saw the highest growth backed by product portfolio across price segments while Vivo continued to lead for the second consecutive quarter with multiple launches across price segments. Nothing witnessed the second-highest growth across other brands.