India's smartphone market grew by 1% YoY in 2023 to 146 million units – IDC

INDIA – According to the International Data Corporation's (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, India's smartphone market shipped 146 million smartphones in 2023, with a nominal 1% growth YoY (year-over-year). The second half of the year grew by 11% YoY in 2H23, compensating for the sharp 10% decline in the first half. 4Q23 grew by 26% YoY with shipments of 37 million units, as the second half of the quarter saw stronger than expected shipments with several new model launches.

Consumer demand remained stressed, leading to excess inventory levels across channels despite price corrections and schemes by the vendors. At the same time, the ASP (average selling price) hit a record of $255, rising 14% YoY in 2023. This also marks the third consecutive year of double-digit ASP growth restricting smartphone market recovery. The high ASP can be attributed to the increasing share of the premium-segment ($600+) from 6% in 2022 to 10% in 2023, along with a rapid uptake in 5G shipments to a record 55% share.

Key Highlights for 2023:

- Shipments to online channels dropped by 6% and its share dropped to 49% in 2023, down from 53% in 2022. Offline channel shipments grew by 8% YoY as vendors strengthened their retail presence with lucrative premium offerings as well as an expansion into smaller towns and cities.

Price segment details:

- 79 million 5G smartphones shipped in 2023, with a plethora of launches in the mass budget segment. 5G ASPs dropped to $374, a decline of 5% YoY in 2023. Within 5G shipments, the mass budget ($100<US200) segment share increased to 35% from 22% a year ago, while the entry-premium ($200<$400) segment continued to dominate with 38% share, albeit down from 49% in 2022. Apple's iPhone 13 & 14, Samsung’s Galaxy A14, vivo's T2x and Xiaomi's Redmi12 were the highest shipped 5G models in 2023.

- Almost a million shipments of foldable phones shipped, with ASPs declining by 4% at $1,236. Samsung led the foldable phone market, although its share dropped to 73% in 2023 as other players such as Motorola, Tecno, OnePlus and OPPO have entered India’s foldable market.

- The share of MediaTek-based smartphones increased to 50%, growing by 6% YoY. vivo’s T2x, Xiaomi's Redmi A2, and Realme's C55 were the highest shipped MediaTek-based models. Qualcomm’s share dropped to 25%, a shipment decline of 6% YoY.

Read the full press release here.

IDC