Now Reading: Smartphone prices rise but premium segment surges 72% in India
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Smartphone prices rise but premium segment surges 72% in India
India's smartphone market is splitting in two. While overall Q2 2026 shipments fell to 34 million units from 37 million a year earlier, they rose from 31 million in Q1, according to CyberMedia Research. The premium segment, phones above Rs 45,000, grew 72% year on year, driven by zero-cost EMI and trade-in offers, analyst Menka Kumari said. Financing tenures now average 10 months across the market, and 17.2 months for Apple buyers, Counterpoint Research data shows.
Chinese brands that dominate the budget segment are under pressure. Vivo leads with 18.1% share but fell 15% year on year, while Samsung closed the gap at 17.9% share. CNBC reports that rising memory chip costs, quadrupling since September 2025, have forced Chinese brands to raise entry-level prices up to 40%, eroding their value proposition. Apple and Samsung gained share as financing made premium phones more accessible. CMR projects a full-year market decline of 10-12%, with the affordable segment hit hardest.
Indian Opinion Analysis
Hindustan Times frames the story as a market paradox, shipments rising sequentially but falling yearly, with premium growth driven by financing. CNBC foregrounds a geopolitical angle: rising memory chip costs punishing Chinese brands while Apple and Samsung gain. Both agree on the core data (34 million Q2 shipments, premium growth, Chinese brand decline), but Hindustan Times treats price hikes as a neutral market force, while CNBC presents them as a structural squeeze on Chinese players from global chip inflation and supply chain shifts. CNBC reports sharper Chinese brand falls (Vivo -13.9%, Xiaomi -10%) but omits CMR's full-year 10-12% decline forecast. The measured takeaway: the Indian market is polarising fast, premium users upgrade via EMI, budget users delay, and the chip shortage is accelerating that split, with Apple and Samsung as the near-term winners. Watch whether Chinese brands can pivot to higher-priced models without losing their core buyer base.
Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral
Sources (2): hindustantimes.com (neutral report), cnbc.com (neutral report)
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above. Methodology and corrections.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
