Samsung and Apple lead India's smartphone market by revenue generation

Despite global inflation hitting the disposable income of the world's population, smartphone brands that target the premium market performed relatively well in India during the past year.

According to IDC's data, Samsung generated revenue of US$6.9 billion from smartphone sales in India, a 14.07% growth from a year earlier. Apple climbed to second place with US$6.2 billion in smartphone sales, a 40.42% growth year-on-year.

Major Chinese brands, including Vivo, Xiaomi, and Oppo, saw their smartphone revenues fall compared with a year earlier, especially Xiaomi, which witnessed a 20.54% decline in smartphone revenue.

Meanwhile, according to The Economic Times, citing Counterpoint Research's data, smartphone revenues generated by Samsung and Apple in India grew 14% and 27%, respectively, with the duo accounting for about 40% of the total smartphone revenue in India.

India's smartphone market was hit first by the components shortage in early 2022 and by the rising inflation for the year's second half. According to Counterpoint, the premium smartphone segment (with prices over INR30,000 or US$365) contributed 11% of India's smartphone shipments and 35% to market revenue in 2022, the highest ever, amid the shipment decline in entry-level and budget phones.

Despite the revenue fall for the past year, Chinese brands still accounted for seven of the top ten smartphone brands by revenue. Samsung, Apple, and Finnish mobile phone manufacturer HMD Global, which sells Nokia-branded handsets, were the only non-Chinese brands in India. India's local brands, such as Lava, Micromax, and Karbonn, did not reach the top ten list amid a lackluster economy that badly hit the entry-level segment that Indian brands target.

According to IDC's data, India's smartphone revenue rose from US$31.7 billion in 2021 to US$33.2 billion in 2022 despite an overall fall in shipments.

Source: IDC, compiled by DIGITIMES Asia