KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- The average selling price (ASP) during the festive season will grow 14% to reach its highest ever at $230
- OEMs have been forced to increase prices, which will have a higher impact on the mass market and budget segments
As the festival season ushers, there has been a sudden push in the sales of smartphone sales in India and the overall dynamics of the segment has culminated to $7.6 Billion. India’s festive shopping season this year kicked off during the first week of October when online platform giants Amazon and Flipkart announced their marquee Great India Festival and Big Billion Days sales as per the Counterpoint research .
The season will end on November 4 with the Diwali festival.The smartphone retail average selling price (ASP) during the festive season will grow 14% to reach its highest ever at $230.
High consumer demand in the mid and premium segments will drive the sales.
Analysis
Research Director Tarun Pathak (Counterpoint)
Although the growth in market value during the 2021 festive season is expected to be 1% YoY, the retail ASP will grow at 14% YoY. The overall consumer sentiment has been positive going into the festive season. Many consumers have decided to spend from their accumulated savings for something that is more personal. This trend will drive a faster smartphone upgrade during the festive season. Apart from this, the 2021 festive season is seeing higher trade-ins and aggressive EMIs that increase device affordability and help consumers bypass multiple price barriers. This has helped drive the sales of mid-to-high tier (>$200) smartphone models and, subsequently, the overall ASP. Many OEMs sensed this trend and brought out aggressive offers on premium devices. The relatively higher sales of premium segment smartphones also helped offset the losses in the mass market due to price hike.
Senior Analyst Prachir Singh(Counterpoint)
The festive season has been driving smartphone sales in India due to high consumer demand during Dusshera and Diwali. This trend has been accelerated this year by the high pent-up demand backed by aggressive promotions in the mid and premium segments. We estimate that almost $7.6 billion worth of smartphones will be sold during the ongoing festive season. This highest ever number is coming at a time when the global smartphone industry is facing component shortages. As a result, OEMs have been forced to increase prices, which will have a higher impact on the mass market and budget segments.”
Presenting more such insights, Techarc along with mScanIt capabilities for e-commerce intelligence revealed that the smartphone sector in India is expected to earn more than half of its sales during the festive quarter. With approximately 49.9 million smartphones projected to be sold during the Oct-Dec 2021 quarter, the quarter’s sales contribution by revenue and volume is estimated to be 56 percent and 32 percent, respectively. The study is unique to the industry with mScanIt tech incorporated into this combined analysis. mScanIt, powered by mFilterIt is a state-of-the-art digital platform that provides an in-depth and focused understanding and intelligence of what happens online.
Amit Relan, Co-Founder & Director, mFilterIt
Bringing up the unique insights, the upsurge in the sale of smartphones reflects the growing Indian economy in the post-pandemic era. Smartphones worth Rs. 1252 Bn are projected to be sold online in this quarter and this is an improvement from what the scenario was last year. mScanIt delivers unique proposition, helping online brands to get a holistic view of the online channels, be it marketplaces, or individual sites.
EXPERT OPINION- mFilterIt & Techarc
Faisal Kawoosa, Founder, Techarc
With the talks around 5G network launching in India, the consumer buying preferences have considerably shifted to the 5G smartphones lately. Currently, Amazon and Flipkart, the two largest online marketplaces, both offer more than 50 5G smartphone models and Samsung remains at the top followed by Realme and Xiaomi, with the maximum number of 5G smartphone in all the price segments
Conclusion
So we feel that the trend of spending on personal will drive a faster smartphone upgrade during the festive season. Apart from this, the 2021 festive season is seeing higher trade-ins and aggressive EMIs that increase device affordability and help consumers bypass multiple price barriers. This has helped drive the sales of mid-to-high tier (>$200) smartphone models and, subsequently, the overall ASP.
