New Delhi, July 29 As India prepares for the 5G era, the installed base of smartphones with 5G capabilities crossed 5 crore in the country, a report showed on Friday.
The 5G smartphone shipment share reached 29 per cent of overall shipments in the second quarter (Q2), which was the highest ever.
"The 5G spectrum auction and commercial availability will accelerate 5G smartphone adoption among users," said research analyst Shilpi Jain.
The government has reached new heights in introducing the 5G technology with an auction of over Rs 1.5 lakh crore for 5G spectrum.
India's total smartphone installed base crossed 600 million (60 crore) during the April-June quarter as shipments grew 9 per cent (on-year) but fell 5 per cent (on-quarter) to reach almost 37 million units, according to latest research from Counterpoint's Market Monitor service.
The annual growth was primarily driven by a lower base in Q2 2021 due to the second Covid-19 wave.
The quarterly drop was due to macroeconomic headwinds affecting consumer demand.
"Consumers are preferring to repair their device or buy a refurbished one rather than make a new purchase. This trend is more visible in the entry and budget segments. Due to this decline in demand, almost all the brands are facing inventory issues," said senior research analyst Prachir Singh.
At the end of June, India's smartphone market was sitting on more than 10 weeks of inventory, more than double the normal inventory size.
Apple grew 63 per cent (on-year) in Q2 driven by a smaller base in Q2 2021 due to the Covid second wave. It remained the top-selling brand in the ultra-premium segment.
"The opening of its own e-store, iPhone SE 2022 and offers on other models will further drive Apple's shipments in the coming quarters," the report mentioned.
The smartphone retail ASP (average selling price) grew 10 per cent driven by an increasing share of the higher price segments.
India's overall mobile handset market grew 6 per cent (on-year) but fell 9 per cent on quarterly basis.
The feature phone market registered a decline of 17 per cent primarily due to the decline in consumer demand, the report mentioned.
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