As many as 37 per cent of smartphones sold in India in 2022 cost Rs 15,000 or more.
The report, "Smartphone forecasts and assumptions, 2007-2020", prepared by GSMA Intelligence, finds that smartphones presently account for one in every three mobile connections, representing more than two billion connections.
At the stroke of midnight, live dashboards lit up simultaneously across Amazon India's World Trade Centre headquarters and Flipkart's Outer Ring Road office in Bengaluru. In sprawling "war rooms" at both the companies, executives monitored real-time data streams tracking payment speeds, inventory levels, and delivery logistics as millions of shoppers flooded online platforms.
The restructuring of tariffs by the US has led to a shift in the list of key product suppliers to the American market, with India emerging as one of the beneficiaries at the expense of China and Canada, an official said on Monday. As per an analysis, India's share in the USA's electronics exports has increased to 7.2 per cent to 3.5 per cent year-on-year in May, while China's share dipped to 11 per cent from 22 per cent during the same period.
The Foxconn move may have been prompted by the Chinese government's focus on strengthening its supply chain.
There's no change in Apple Inc's India strategy, said a top government source. 'It can only be enhanced'.
The United States action of levying 25 per cent additional tariff on Indian goods is 'unfair, unjustified and unreasonable', India said on Wednesday in a firm reaction, signalling increasing tensions between the two strategic partners over New Delhi's energy ties with Moscow.
The sweeping tariffs proposed across sectors by US President Donald Trump are scheduled to be imposed starting April 2, with most analysts worried about their impact on companies, and in turn the financial markets. Recently, the US administration signaled that it will impose sectoral tariffs on energy, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, agriculture, copper, and lumber.
If India caves in to US pressure as Trump hopes it will, he will further try to blackmail it into submission, points out Ramesh Menon.
Can the launch of smartphones under its own brand name by Finnish company HMD Global - despite having a licence to use the Nokia brand which it bought from Microsoft - help it regain its once dominant position in the mobile phone sweepstakes in India, where it was once routed? In 2009, Nokia was the country's largest MNC with revenues of $4 billion and a market share touching 80 per cent in 2010. After this, its fortunes fell. Although it had been the first global player to set up an assembly plant, not only to assemble phones for the local market but for exports, it had to shut down operations in 2014.
LG is targeting a turnover of Rs. 3,000 crore in 2011 and sell 450,000 smartphone units in India this year.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday slapped an additional 25 per cent tariff on goods coming from India as penalty for New Delhi's continued buying of Russian oil.
China's Vivo said on Thursday it will export more than one million 'Made in India' smartphones in 2023 to achieve a target announced last year when it sent out its first indigenous shipment to Thailand and Saudi Arabia. Vivo India, known for its economical phones, has proposed investing Rs 7,500 crore in the country and it is set to spend Rs 3,500 crore of that amount by end of this year. According to the firm's India Impact Report 2022, it will start production at a new 'state of the art' manufacturing facility by early 2024 after regulatory clearance.
India will have 1 billion smartphone users by 2026 with rural areas driving the sale of internet-enabled phones, a Deloitte study said on Tuesday. India had 1.2 billion mobile subscribers in 2021, of which about 750 million are smartphone users. It is poised to be the second-largest smartphone manufacturer in the next five years. "The smartphone market is expected to reach 1 billion smartphone users by 2026," according to Deloitte's 2022 Global TMT (Technology, Media and Entertainment, Telecom) predictions.
From labelling India the 'Tariff King' to slapping sweeping import duties, US President Donald Trump has steadily hardened his trade stance on India. These announcements are being seen as a pressure tactic to get New Delhi to agree to demands made by the US in the proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA).
Market grew 15% YoY in June quarter, sharply lower from 23% in previous quarter and 34% in the same quarter of 2015
Targeted at fast growing low-cost smartphone markets like India, Nokia launched the much anticipated Android-based smartphones starting at Rs 7,600.
The 25 per cent US tariffs, plus a penalty for Russian imports, could dent India's GDP growth by 30 basis points in the current fiscal, but the higher duty is unlikely to significantly affect India's domestic demand-driven economy, Barclays said on Thursday. If the 25 per cent tariff, announced by US President Donald Trump on Wednesday, is implemented from August 1, the effective average US import tariff on Indian goods will rise to 20.6 per cent in trade-weighted terms, as per Barclays estimates.
The trade relationship between India and the United States has been strained by the imposition of 25% tariff by the US on Indian goods.
The first half of the year (H1-2020) was marked by sluggish growth with demand down 26 per cent YoY, while the second half saw recovery. H2-2020 recovered with 19 per cent YoY growth, reports Shivani Shinde.
Bharti Airtel sees opportunity in raising tariff for data services as it feels that rich are paying less and poor are not required to pay anymore, a senior official of the company said. During the company's earnings call for the first quarter of the current fiscal, Bharti Airtel vice-chairman and MD Gopal Vittal said that the company has written to the government for a relief on adjusted gross revenue and has demanded that it should be given benefit at par with other telecom operator, without naming Vodafone Idea.
Domestic handset maker Intex has launched India's first Firefox OS based handset for Rs 1,999, targetted at capturing a larger chunk of the booming affordable smartphone market in India.
The growth of Chinese manufacturers is shaking up the smartphone industry.
Apple has launched the iPhone 16e, a more affordable, pocket-friendly smartphone in the iPhone 16 series.
Among the top five vendors, Micromax (18 per cent) and Lava (54 per cent) were the only ones to have outstripped the market growth.
Apple's ambitious strategy to expand iPhone exports, shift more production from China to India at a faster pace, and grow its domestic market hits a Trump-sized roadblock.
The top 5 cities of India made up about 60 per cent of the online smartphone sales in India.
The Model Y's blend of minimalist design, advanced technology, and practical features certainly makes a strong case. But the true test will lie in its performance on Indian roads and the timely expansion of its charging infrastructure, says Rajesh Karkera/Rediff.
'India did not surrender. That was why he wanted to pressurise India by this 25% tariffs.'
In spite of being attacked from all corners, a faltering supply chain and negative sentiments soaring high among the local consumers, top Chinese smartphone brands gained market share during the most critical phase - the April-June quarter of this year.
India has pipped China to drive the volume growth of smartphones in the world on the back of falling prices of high-end devices.
A Rs 23,000-crore production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for electronic components may boost margins and enable a broader product mix.
There are plenty of smartphones under Rs 30,000 but these are the top five across all major smartphone platforms.
It has captured 38 per cent of the feature phone segment in 2018 through frequent innovation, says Arnab Dutta.
The rapid rise of quick commerce is anticipated to create a substantial increase in the need for blue-collar workers, with India projected to require 2.4 million jobs by 2027, according to job matching and hiring platform Indeed. Quick commerce companies hired over 40,000 employees in the last quarter to handle increased festive shopping and e-commerce demand, Indeed India Sales Head Sashi Kumar said.
In FY22-23, Samsung exported $4.09 billion smartphones from India -- an increase of 42 per cent over 2021, when it was $2.8 billion -- accounting for 35 per cent of all smartphone exports.
E-learning and work from home have forced a section of feature phones users to shift to smartphones.
The number of consumers adopting smarter, wireless technology in the country is on the rise.
Rugged Gorilla Glass coating, whopper screen sizes and a high pixels per inch density will make you drool at the displays of these smartphones.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances