A new report by International Data Corporation (IDC) has revealed that India's smartphone market grew by one percent YoY (year-over-year) in 2023. The year saw 146 million phone shipments by various mobile brands operating in the Indian market. The report also notes that the ASP (average selling price) of a smartphone rose to a record $255 (approx Rs 21,000) which is a 14 percent YoY increase from 2022.
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Key insights of Indian smartphone market in 2023 across price segments
Let's take a look at some of the main highlights from the IDC report about the smartphone market in India across various price segments in 2023:
Entry-level $100 (approx Rs 8,300) - The smartphone market under Rs 8,300 in India saw an increase of 12 percent year-over-year and now contributes 20 percent share in the market. Xiaomi led this segment closely followed by POCO and Samsung.
Mass budget $100 to $200 (approx Rs 8,300 to Rs 16,600) - This particular smartphone price segment declined from 51 percent to 44 percent market share towards the end of 2023. Major contributors to this segment include Vivo, Realme, and Samsung.
Entry-premium $200 to $400 (approx. Rs 16,600 to Rs 33,000) - The entry-premium smartphone category didn't witness any significant growth or losses and remained at 21 percent market share. Vivo and OnePlus were the winners in the segment.
Mid-premium $400 to $600 (approx. Rs 33,000 to Rs 50,000) - Coming to the mid-premium smartphone segment, with an impressive year-on-year growth of 27 percent, this category had a total share of 5 percent in the smartphone space. OnePlus largely maintained the lead with a 35 percent share with Vivo and Samsung being right behind.
Premium $600 to $800 (approx. Rs 50,000 to Rs 66,000) - Next up is the premium segment in which handsets like Apple iPhone 13, Samsung Galaxy S23/S23 FE, and OnePlus 11 remained consumer favourites. This segment's contribution to the total smartphone market share increased to 3 percent where Samsung doubled its numbers while Apple saw a decline in its market share.
Super-premium $800 (Rs 66,000) and above - The ultra-premium smartphone space was spearheaded by the likes of Apple and Samsung. This segment recorded the highest growth of 86 percent with its share increasing from four percent to seven percent.
Market share of smartphone brands in 2023
Here's a quick look at the market share of the top ten smartphone brands in India along with their year-over-year change compared to 2022:
The smartphone brand with the highest unit market share is Samsung which currently holds a share of 17 percent. While this number is a decline from 2022, it still managed to outpace the likes of Vivo, Realme, and Xiaomi which also operate in similar price segments as Samsung.
Vivo witnessed an increase in its market share from 14.1 percent in 2022 to 15.2 percent in 2023 resulting in a positive 8.2 percent year-over-year change.
Realme and Xiaomi take up the third and fourth spot respectively in the smartphone market share with both on a decline in terms of year-over-year change.
Coming in fifth place is OPPO which had a total market share of 10.3 percent in 2023, which again is a decline from 2022.
Perceived as premium brands by the general public, Apple and OnePlus saw a growth of 38.6 percent and 48.7 percent respectively on a year-over-year basis and took up the sixth and seventh positions in the phone market share.
Brands such as POCO, Infinix, and Tecno which tend to offer impressive specifications on their smartphones at aggressive prices are the ones that exhibited the most growth in terms of market share.
Key trends in the smartphone space in 2023
A total of 79 million 5G smartphones were shipped for the budget segment alone in 2023. However, the average selling price of a 5G smartphone decreased to $374 (approx. Rs 31,000) towards the end of last year.
Some of the most shipped 5G smartphones in 2023 include Apple iPhone 13, iPhone 14, Samsung Galaxy A14 5G, Vivo T2x, and Redmi 12 5G.
Close to about 1 million foldable smartphones were shipped in 2023 which also saw Samsung losing some market share in the foldable space to new entrants like Motorola, Tecno, OnePlus, and OPPO.
MediaTek-powered smartphones witnessed a year-on-year increase of six percent taking up the total share in the smartphone market to 50 percent. Vivo T2x, Redmi A2, and Realme C55 were the highest-shipped MediaTek-based models in 2023. On the other hand, Qualcomm's share declined to 25 percent.
Insights from 91mobiles
91mobiles gets millions of daily visitors and users regularly search for smartphone brands and models they are most interested in. As per the data, we notice that most user searches on the 91mobiles website align with the insights and trends highlighted by IDC's report.
The sub-Rs 15,000 smartphone segment in which IDC's report highlights that Vivo, Samsung, and Realme shipped the highest number of smartphones in the segment. These brands account for the top four most searches on 91mobiles as well, with phones like Samsung Galaxy A14 and Vivo T2x being among the most-searched phones on our website.
Moving on, the smartphone segment of Rs 15,000 to Rs 30,000 was majorly dominated by the likes of OnePlus and Vivo, per IDC, which was a trend seen on our website as well with OnePlus being the most-searched brand in the Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 and Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 segments in 2023. Similarly, Vivo remained the second most-searched brand in the Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 price bracket.
The smartphone market between Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000 had the most smartphone shipments from brands like Apple, Samsung, and OnePlus, per the IDC report. These brands also ended up having the most searches on 91mobiles for the said price bracket.
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