Handset output down by up to 20% since January

Mobile phone companies have reduced their production capacities by up to 20% year-on-year between January and April till now due to continued steep fall in sales in the last six months, industry executives said.

Smartphone shipments – a proxy of sales – declined by 30% year-on-year in October-December 2022 period and by 18% in January-March 2023 as compared to the same period last year, as per latest numbers from industry researcher Counterpoint. India’s largest mobile phone retailer, Reliance Retail too said sales of devices or mobile phones had lagged in the January-March quarter.