India’s Smartphone Shipments to Decline 10 Percent YoY in Q3 2022: IDC

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

5G smartphone share reached 36 percent of total smartphone shipments during the reported quarter with 16 million units at a slightly lower average retail price of $393 (approx. Rs. 31,900) each compared to $377 (approx. Rs. 30,600), in the previous quarter.

“India’s smartphone market fell 10% year-on-year (YoY) to ship 43 million units in July-September 2022. This was the lowest shipment for the third quarter since 2019 despite the start of Diwali festivities. Declining demand and rising device prices It had a negative impact on holiday shopping,” International Data Corporation’s (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker reports said.

IDC Associate Vice President of Device Research Navkendar Singh said inventory build-up and reduced post-festive circulation demand will lead to a quiet December quarter in 2022 and annual shipments for 2022 are likely to decline by 8-9 percent to around 150 million units.

“The major challenges to 2023 are the result of inflation in consumer demand, rising device costs, and the slow migration of feature phones to smartphones. However, the migration of 4G smartphone users to 5G smartphones should provide growth to the market 2023, especially in the premium segment and above,” said Singh.

According to the report, online channels had the upper hand in the quarter of September 2022 as they made a record share of 58 percent, although they grew slightly year on year with the shipment of 25 million units.

“Multiple rounds of eTailer sales (The Big Billion Days on Flipkart and Amazon Great India Festival) were supported by special platform prices, special online deals, and offers and discounts. Amidst all the action on online channels, offline shipments decreased by percent 20 YoY as they struggle to generate demand while competing with aggressive online gaming,” the report said.

MediaTek-based smartphones increased to 47 percent of the overall market, while Qualcomm dropped to 25 percent and UNISOC followed with 15 percent.

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

Xiaomi maintained its lead, but with an 18 percent decrease in shipments YoY in the September 2022 quarter. Over 70 percent of shipments from online channels, resulting in a 27 percent share of online channels (including sub- brand Poco),” said the report.

Samsung also secured second place with a share of 18.5 percent. It was followed by Vivo with 14.6%, Realme 14.2% and Oppo 12.5% ​​market share.

“The $300 (approx. Rs. 24,350) segment did not perform well, with shipments down 15 percent YoY. The premium segment above $500 (approx. Rs. 40,600) continued to be the fastest growing price band with a growth of 15 percent 64 YoY and 8 percent. Apple led with a 63 percent share in that space, followed by Samsung with 22 percent and OnePlus with 9 percent,” the report said.