Apple and Samsung drive India’s smartphone festive sales value to over $3.2 bn: Report, ET BrandEquity

The first wave of India’s festive season sales, between September 26 to October 7, saw a minor decline of 3% year-on-year in smartphone volumes, crossing 13 million units. However, the value grew by 8% year-on-year to cross $3.2 billion for the first time, driven primarily by premium handsets from Samsung and Apple, Counterpoint Research said in a report released Thursday.

Counterpoint now estimates that India’s festive period, which ends after Diwali, is expected to see more than 35 million smartphones being sold this year, a growth of 3% year-on-year in terms of volume and 9% year-on-year in terms of value.

Despite a broader slowdown in the first wave, sales in the premium segment (>Rs 30,000) grew by 7% year-on-year, while the ultra-premium segment (>Rs 45,000) grew by 12% year-on-year due to Apple and Samsung devices, the research firm said.

It found that Apple’s iPhone 15 and iPhone 13 were the top-performing premium smartphones on Flipkart and Amazon, respectively. For Samsung, deals on the Galaxy S23, S23 Ultra and S23 FE drove the premium volumes.

Samsung captured an 18% sales volume share and 22% sales value share to grow in double digits, both in volume and value, Counterpoint said. Apple’s sales grew by single digits in terms of volume, but the iPhone 15 relatively drove more value.

Outside the top five brands, Motorola was the fastest-growing during the first wave. However, offline-centric brands such as Vivo, Oppo, Tecno and Itel are expected to perform better during the coming sales as offline demand starts to pick up, the research firm said.

To be sure, this year’s festive season sales in India kicked off on September 26 with Flipkart and Amazon hosting their big annual sale events Big Billion Days and Great Indian Festival, respectively.

Counterpoint estimates the festive season to contribute 20%-25% to the Indian smartphone industry’s annual sales.

In the first wave, online channels contributed to almost 70% of total smartphone sales, while sales in the offline platforms started picking up after October 2, the day which marked the end of Shradh, as per the market tracker. “The offers on offline channels have also been getting better. This has reduced the urgency for consumers to buy in the initial days of the sale,” it said.

• Published On Oct 11, 2024 at 02:30 PM IST

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