As India's festival season approaches, the smartphone industry is closely watching for signs of recovery in the world's second-largest smartphone market, which has seen shipments decline for four consecutive quarters.
The Economic Times quoted Chandu Reddy, director at Sangeetha Mobiles, saying that smartphone sales dropped in July and August, and retailers have to attract customers by expanding their portfolios in stores, such as adding fryers and water purifiers.
According to Tarun Pathak, the research director at Counterpoint Research, preliminary signs indicate that increased retail inflation and the anticipation of improved deals leading up to the festival season have suppressed consumer demand for smartphones in August.
India's smartphone market has been struggling with macroeconomic headwinds. According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation of India, the consumer inflation rate was at 7.44% in July, a 15-month high and up from 4.87% in June. Amid the lingering inflation, sales of products targeting lower-income segments were impacted most. IDC data shows that the shipment share of smartphones priced lower than US$200 declined to 65% in the second quarter from 70% a year ago, with premium smartphones priced over US$600 witnessing a 75% annual shipment growth.
Persistent inflation in India may not be a good sign for the industry when the global smartphone market has yet to emerge from the bottom.
DIGITIMES Research analyst Luke Lin estimates that smartphone shipments outside China are expected to fall by 6.3% and 1.4% in the third and fourth quarters, respectively, with global smartphone shipments anticipated to see an annual decline of 6.9% in 2023 to 1,081.1 million units.
Source: IDC, September 2023
