India Smartphone Shipments Fall 10% in Q2 as Premium Sales Jump 54%
Updated
Updated · ETBrandEquity · Aug 18
India Smartphone Shipments Fall 10% in Q2 as Premium Sales Jump 54%
3 articles · Updated · ETBrandEquity · Aug 18
Summary
India’s smartphone market shrank 10% year on year in Q2 2026, with the downturn concentrated in lower-priced devices even as premium phones kept expanding.
CMR linked the slide to delayed upgrades, inventory reduction, cautious spending, rising component and handset costs, and longer replacement cycles across retail channels.
Affordable smartphones fell 88% and the value-for-money segment dropped 30%, while phones priced above INR 25,000 grew 54% and the INR 50,000-INR 1 lakh band surged 72%.
Financing tools such as zero-cost EMIs, trade-ins and consumer credit are increasingly driving premium upgrades, outweighing feature-led buying in the super-premium segment.
CMR expects India’s smartphone market to decline 10%-12% in 2026, with sub-INR 15,000 models under pressure through H2 while premium and super-premium segments grow more than 50%.