Smartphone shipments volume India 2011-2023
In 2023, the volume of smartphone shipments in India was about 146 million, up slightly from about 144 million the previous year. The year-on-year change rate was just one percent. 5G smartphone shipments reached 79 million in the same year. The super-premium segment, smartphones that sell for more than 800 U.S. dollars, saw the highest growth year-on-year, reaching seven percent of total smartphone shipments.
5G in India
Since October 2022, 5G services have been launched in India in 13 cities, including most of the major Indian cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai. Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and Adani Data Networks won 5G licenses through auctions for a total of 1.5 trillion Indian rupees. Reliance Jio, the most popular telecom service provider in India with close to 40 percent market share, was also one of the first to offer 5G services.
Popular smartphones in India
The smartphone market in India is incredibly competitive. Some of the most popular smartphone brands in the country were from China, including Xiaomi, Vivo, and Oppo. The market was dominated by medium to lower-priced phones, and models from the premium price category had a hard time increasing their market share. But recently, Apple’s iPhone started to see increased popularity among urban elites, and in 2023, more than 10 million units of iPhones were sold in India.
