NEW DELHI : Shipments of smartphones made in India fell 8% year over year to 52 million in the September quarter, according to a Counterpoint report released on Tuesday. Analysts at the research firm attributed this to a drop in consumer demand in global markets as well as in India.
Of the 52 million smartphones shipped in the September quarter, about 7 million were exports, they added.
Although the number of smartphones produced in India increased, the high inventory of distribution channels at the beginning of the quarter also impacted manufacturing during the quarter, said Prachir Singh, senior research analyst at Counterpoint Research.
He added that nearly 63% of smartphone shipments in India came from in-house manufacturers, while the rest came from third-party electronics manufacturing services (EMS).
Chinese smartphone maker Oppo led Made-in-India shipments in the quarter with a 23.8% market share, followed by Samsung (20.7%) and Vivo (12.4%). EMS providers such as Foxconn subsidiary Bharat FIH, which makes smartphones for Xiaomi (8.5%), and Dixon, which also makes phones for Samsung, accounted for 8.5% and 7.8% of shipments, respectively.
According to the report, Lava and Chinese company BYD were the fastest growing smartphone makers in terms of shipments.
Despite the drop in shipments, Singh is confident that smartphone manufacturing will grow in India. “We will continue to see PLI payouts in subsequent quarters, which will enrich the local manufacturing landscape,” he added.
Singh also pointed out that recent partnerships such as between Tata Group and Wistron and between Foxconn and Vedanta will give manufacturing a further boost.
Tata Group is in talks with Wistron to buy its iPhone manufacturing facility in Karnataka for an estimated price of over $600 million, according to an ET report published in November. Foxconn and Vedanta in September announced a joint venture to spend $20 billion to build semiconductor factories in Gujarat.
Additionally, Counterpoint Research Analyst Priya Joseph pointed out that the Indian smartphone market has remained resilient. She attributed this to government policy interventions in the form of schemes such as the Production-Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI) to make India a manufacturing hub.
Several OEMs, including Apple and Samsung, are now exporting smartphones that are assembled in factories in India.
According to industry body India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), India is expected to export US$9 billion worth of mobile phones in FY23, up from US$5.8 billion in the previous fiscal year.
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