Smartphone shipments in March quarter fall 19% to hit record low: Report

India’s smartphone shipments declined 19 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in the first quarter of calendar year 2023 (January-March) to reach over 31 million units, according to a report by Counterpoint Research.

This was the highest ever Q1 decline seen by the country’s smartphone market, besides being the third consecutive quarterly decline. Sluggish demand, high inventory build-up carried over from 2022, growing consumer preference for refurbished phones and pessimistic channel view of the market contributed to this decline, the report said.

“We are observing a change in consumer behaviour — demand is concentrated around promotional periods,” said Shilpi Jain, senior research analyst at Counterpoint.