Indian smartphone market grows 44 pc

Hyderabad: The Indian smartphone market growth in volume clocked 44 per for offline retail in H1 2022 against the previous year, according to GfK Market Intelligence Report.
“The offline channel growth of smartphones reached 2019 sales levels in 2021. In 2022, it is projected to grow by 25-30 per cent over 2021 by value in offline channels,” it said.
“All of this is possible due to, we Indians, coming back to normalcy 38 per cent faster than the rest of the world,” said Dheeraj Mukherjee, Head of Sales– India, GfK.
The contribution of the >20K price band category has evolved from approximately 17 per cent in 2017 to 40 per cent in H1’22 in the offline market. This signifies that there is a 2.5X jump in the contribution of +20K handsets from 2017, the report said.
The 20k+ price segment shows growth across all tier cities- with Tier 4 cities witnessing maximum growth in the price segment in H12022 vis-à-vis H12019 at a staggering 240 per cent growth followed by Tier 3 cities with 186 per cent growth, Tier 2 at 162 percent growth, and 86 per cent growth in Tier 1 cities.
Tiers 5 and above cities witnessed over 120 per cent growth.
As per GfK’s Consumer Life Study 2022, surveyed amongst the Indian urban consumers, especially the younger demographic, it was observed that 64 per cent like to be seen with the latest tech products. While 46 per cent of them used an electronic payment service like UPI, Paytm, or GPay.
Post-pandemic, the element of convenience is a big factor that influences purchase decisions – 62 per cent of Indian consumers want tech which knows them and can make recommendations, thereby making their day-to-day life easier.
These trends cumulatively can offer a tailwind opportunity for smartphone retailers in the Indian market, he added.
The ASP of smartphones has increased up to 34 per cent in 2021 vs 2017 while it increased 65 per cent in 2022 O2 vs 2017 Q1. This positive uptick is an opportunity for both manufacturers and retailers to garner profit in the coming quarters, the GfK report added.
(UNI)