India’s smartphone market in October grew by 42 per cent with shipments of 21 million units, marking the second-highest tally ever in a month, research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) on Thursday.
The rise in sales was reported due to the multiple online sales event and festive season towards the end of the month. However, IDC says that it expects the smartphone market to see a single-digit decline in the final consumer sell-out in 2020 on a full-year basis.
A total of 140 million smartphones were sold in India in 2019, as reported by Associate Research Manager at IDC India Upasana Joshi.
"IDC expects 2020 to exit with a single-digit decline in final consumer sell out. Though the first half of the fourth quarter 2020 will witness high sales owing to festivities, the second half will be lean with a cyclical dip as inventory cycles normalise and stocks get replenished," she said.
"This is the highest ever October shipments and second-highest for a month, following 23 million units in September 2020, an all-time high for a single month," it added.
Online sales of smartphones grew by 53 per cent year-on-year and amounted to 51 per cent of the 21 million unit shipment. Whereas offline channels saw year-on-year growth of 33 per cent, IDC reported.
The premium segment saw an expansive growth with high shipments of iPhone XR, 11 and OnePlus 8. Meanwhile, the low-mid range segment grew by 60 per cent year-on-year.
Sachin Mehta, IDC Market Analyst said that half a million 5G devices have already been sold with almost 80 per cent of the sales happened in the country’s top 10 cities.
Though 5G is a driver from a technological advancement standpoint, uncertainties on spectrum availability, clear use cases and high prices might restrict its uptake to few bigger cities initially," he added.
