Smartphone sales grew 8% year-on-year (y-o-y) to Rs 27,000 crore in the first phase of festive season sales across e-commerce platforms like Flipkart and Amazon, according to data by Counterpoint from September 26 to October 7 period. This can be attributed to an increase in average selling price and shift of market towards premium phones. The sales, however, fell 3% y-o-y in volume terms to 13 million units.
Sales on offline platforms started picking up after October 3, the day which marked the end of ‘Shradh’ period. The offers on offline channels have also been getting better. This has reduced the urgency for consumers to buy in the initial days of the sale, analysts said.
The festive season is crucial for India’s smartphone market, as it contributes 20-25% of the companies’ annual sales.
“In the first wave, online channels contributed to almost 70% of total smartphone sales. Among online channels, Flipkart captured 52% volume, followed by Amazon at 46%,” Counterpoint said in a note.
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In value terms, both the platforms gained, with Amazon growing more than Flipkart due to strong performance of models like the iPhone 13, Samsung S23 Ultra, Samsung Galaxy S24, Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, OnePlus 12 and OnePlus 12R.
The sale of premium smartphones (over Rs 30,000) on Amazon was also helped by no-cost EMI plans, along with the demand coming from tier-2 cities and beyond. Volume of premium smartphones grew 7%, according to the data.
Notably, the ultra-premium segment of above Rs 45,000 saw 12% y-o-y growth during the first wave led by Apple and Samsung. Analysts said, Apple’s models iPhone 15 and iPhone 13 were the top-performing premium smartphones on Flipkart and Amazon, respectively. For Samsung, deals on the Galaxy S23, S23 Ultra and S23 FE drove the premium volumes.
Data suggests Samsung emerged as the best-selling brand, both in volume and value. It captured an 18% sales volume share and 22% sales value share to grow in double digits, both in volume and value.
Apple’s sales grew by single digits in terms of volume. But the value grew more due to the strong performance of the iPhone 15, the best-selling premium device during the first wave.
Brands like Xiaomi and realme witnessed flattish YoY growth during the first wave, according to Counterpoint.
India’s festive period, which ends after Diwali, is expected to see more than 35 million smartphones being sold this year, a growth of 3% YoY in terms of volume and 9% YoY in terms of value, according to Counterpoint Research’s estimates.