- 11.5 million smartphones arrived in the country in the three quarters of 2019; Xiaomi, Samsung, Vivo, Oppo, and Reality were top-5 companies
- According to Tarun Pathak, Associate Director of Counterpoint Research – Smartphone market in the country is expected to grow by 12-14% in 2020
- Experts believe that corporate tax cuts and relaxed FDI norms gave big companies an opportunity to invest in the country
This year in the country, there was a slowdown in the auto sector. On the other hand, the demand for smartphones has increased rapidly in both urban and rural areas. According to Tarun Pathak, Associate Director of Counterpoint Research, the smartphone market in the country is expected to grow 9% in 2019 and 12 to 14% in 2020.
The demand for smartphones increased rapidly in both urban and rural areas
Experts believe that the government’s plans are behind the increasing sales of smartphones, which encouraged big companies like Apple to open manufacturing units in India as well.
There will be 700 million smartphone users in the country by 2022
Tarun Pathak says that by 2022, 70 crore people in the country will have smartphones and more than 1 billion smartphones expected to be sold in the next 4-5 years. According to an estimate, the country had 115 million smartphones by the first three quarters of 2019 (January to September). Among them, Xiaomi, Samsung, Vivo, Oppo, and Reality were top-5 companies.
The average price of the smartphone also increased by 5 thousand
The average selling price (ASP) of smartphones has also increased this year. Earlier the average price of smartphones used to be between 5 to 10 thousand, which has now increased to 10 to 15 thousand. According to the International Data Corporation, more than 80% of the market in the country of smartphones priced between $ 200 (Rs 14,200) and 300 to 500 dollars (Rs 21,400 to 35,600). This price segment grew manifold. Upasana Joshi, associate research manager at IDC India, explains that the reason for the growth in this segment is the people who are upgrading their smartphones.
Corporate tax cuts and government policies are also beneficial
In order to make the country a ‘digital hub’, the government has formulated a new policy for electronics manufacturing. Also, FDI rules relaxed. That is why Apple has announced the launch of its first retail store in India. In addition, the government also reduced corporate tax from 22% to 15% in September. Apart from Apple, Salcomp, a charger maker for the iPhone, has also promised to invest 2 thousand crores in the country. Salcomp is going to start the plant in Chennai by March 2020. It also expected to provide employment to 10 thousand people.
5G phones may arrive by March 2020
Reality India plans to bring the first 5G smartphone in the country by March 2020. However, experts expect the purchase of 5G smartphones in the country to increase after the first 6 months of 2020. Initially, the price of 5G smartphones will be very high and after one or one and a half years, 5G smartphone is likely to be available in the price segment of 10 thousand to 25 thousand as well.