Smartphone shipments in India dips 16% in January-March: Report

India’s smartphone market is expected to see flat growth in 2023, the IDC report said.

“31 million smartphones were shipped in India during the first quarter of 2023, a decline of 16% YoY, and the lowest first-quarter shipments in four years,” International Data Corporation’s (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker report said.

Despite a dip of 11.4% in shipment, Samsung led the market with a 20.1% market share, followed by Vivo with 17.7%.

Oppo was the only brand that recorded growth in shipment during the quarter. It recorded a market share of 17.6%.

Xiaomi’s shipment fell by 41.1% to 5 million units and its market share fell to 16.4% during the reported quarter from 23.4% a year ago.

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Realme shipment dropped by more than half to 2.9 million units and its market share dropped to 9.4% during March 2023 quarter from 16.4% in the corresponding quarter of 2022. “Consumer demand remained sluggish amid uncertain macroeconomic conditions, and inventory levels were elevated because of high stocking in the second half of 2022,” IDC said.

5G smartphone share increased to 45% from 31% a year ago. The growth in 5G smartphones was led by Samsung, which accounted for more than a quarter of the shipments in the segment.

“5G smartphones continue to increase penetration in the low-end price segment, and we should expect a strong 5G play in the USD 150 to USD 300 segment in the second half of 2023 as high-end 4G models vacate the space,” IDC India Research Manager, Client Devices, Upasana Joshi said.