India Smartphone Market Trends 2020

Driven by growth in Mid and Premium category, Smartphone sales to hit 165 million in 2020.

Overall mobile handset market will see a dip of 2% primarily due to falling sales in Featurephones.

On December 3, 2019, techARC released its key trends report for Smartphones in India for the year 2020. The report pegs total mobile handset sales at 270 million units in 2020, 2% dip than the sales figures for 2019. Smartphones will contribute 61% of the new handset sales with Featurephone and Smart Featurephone contributions at 30% and 9% respectively.

Among the sale of new device categories, Smartphones will register a growth of 13.8% in sales compared to 2019, while Featurephone and Smart Featurephone sales are estimated to decline at 13% and 34% respectively.

Sharing the key highlights of the report, Faisal Kawoosa, Founder & Chief Analyst, techARC said, “It will be a business as usual year for the mobile industry with the sales driven by replacement and upgrade opportunities. Having that said, 2 F’s of Five (5)G and Foldable Smartphones will excite the entire value chain including the end users in 2020.”

“2020 is going to be one of a kind year where Smartphone brands will have to maneuver the current potential with the future opportunities and balancing between the two will be key to their success,” added Faisal.

India Smartphone Trends 2020

• A total of 213 mn Smartphones will be sold in 2020, out of which 23% (48 mn) are estimated to be Pre-Owned Smartphones.
• The overall Smartphone sales will grow at 13.3% with new Smartphone sales increasing at 13.8% and Pre-Owned Smartphones sales growing at 11.6%.
• Average Selling Price of Smartphones is likely to increase by 8.4-8.6% to support increase in the cost of devices with new features. Smartphone selling price in 2020 would be in the range of Rs 15,500-15,800.
• Premium (Rs 25,001 – 50,000) Smartphone category will grow maximum in sales at 30% comparing the sales of 2019. Consumers will continue to find a wider range of products available to choose from in this price segment.
• The Luxe (Above Rs 50,000) category of Smartphones will see the 2nd highest growth at 26%.
• Mid (Rs 10,001 – Rs 25,000) segment of Smartphones will grow at 23% in 2020. This segment will see many flagship features launched during the year.
• Basic (Rs 5,001 – Rs 10,000) Smartphone category will grow at 7% with 80 million units sold in this range. This will continue to be the largest segment in terms of potential.
• The Entry (Upto Rs 5,000) level of Smartphones will continue to decline. The segment is likely to decline at 11% in sales comparing with 2019.
• South will continue to sell more (32%) Smartphones. However, Eastern states will see the maximum growth of 28% in sales of Smartphones. This will be followed by North at 20%, West at 10% and South at 7% growth in volume sales.
• Urban India will sell 63% of the Smartphones with 12% rise in sales. Rural will sell the remaining Smartphones with 17% growth in the region.
• Online sales channel will see a nominal 2% dip in contribution with 40% of the Smartphones being sold through this channel. However, in terms of absolute numbers, the growth will be 8%.
• The Offline channel will grow at 18% propelled by heavy investments by brands in the offline channel to cater to rising opportunity beyond metros.
• 5G Smartphones will be introduced majorly in 2H of 2020. However, some brand might hasten the launch in Apr-Jun quarter for setting the record.
• There are 15-18 5G Smartphone models expected to be launched in 2020 in India. All the launches will be in Luxe and Premium categories. 
• The estimates for 5G Smartphone sales are 1.5 million units in 2020.
• All major OEMs will launch at least one 5G Smartphone handset. However, there could be some underdog brands as well surprising the market.
• Foldable Smartphones will be the 2nd most exciting thing to happen in 2020. There are 8-10 expected Foldable Smartphones to be launched in 2020. This new converged form factor will be launched in Luxe category.
• At this stage, techARC estimates the potential of Foldable Smartphones of not more than 100,000 units in India.

Download the report