India smartphone market grows 19% in Q4 2023, 5G share up 65%

New Delhi, Feb 6 (IANS) India smartphone market grew 19 per cent (year-on-year) in the holiday quarter (Q4) of 2023, as Xiaomi led the overall smartphone market followed by Samsung, a report showed on Tuesday.

The 5G smartphone shipment share increased to 65 per cent, marking a 122 per cent growth (on-year). Samsung led the 5G smartphone market with a 22 per cent market share, followed by Vivo at 18 per cent during the quarter, according to the report by market research firm CyberMedia Research (CMR).

The overall mobile market shipments recorded growth of 29 per cent YoY. Xiaomi (19 per cent), Samsung (18.9 per cent), and Vivo (16 per cent) captured the top three spots, followed by realme (12 per cent) and OPPO (8 per cent).

“5G and a strong premiumisation wave continued to underline the smartphone market growth in India. Around 58 per cent of 5G smartphones were shipped under the value-for-money segment (Rs 7,000-Rs 25,000), up from 47 per cent in Q4 2022,” said Shipra Sinha, analyst- Industry Intelligence Group, CMR.

Furthermore, the Rs 50,000 superpremium smartphone segment experienced a remarkable 65 per cent YoY growth.

“There was a noteworthy growth in the 4G feature phone market, primarily catalyzed by Jio,” she said.

In the entire year, the smartphone market recorded a 2 per cent YoY decline in shipments. On the other hand, 5G smartphone shipments grew 67 per cent YoY for 2023.

“Samsung maintained its leadership in the smartphone market with an 18% market share, followed by Vivo at 16 per cent in CY2023,” the report mentioned.

The overall feature phone market recorded a significant 52 per cent YoY growth. The growth was primarily driven by 4G feature phone models, while shipments of older 2G phones declined 12 per cent.