Smartphones worth $17 bn likely to be sold in India festive quarter

With festive sales set to bring record revenues for the e-commerce platforms, smartphones worth $16.9 billion are expected to be sold during the October-December festive quarter, new data showed on Friday.

With over 49.9 million smartphones expected to sell during the festive quarter (Q4), the sales contribution of the quarter by revenue and volume is estimated at 56 per cent and 32 per cent, respectively.

The revenue contributions will be led by the premium smartphone segment (Rs 25,000-Rs 50,000), contributing 51.7 per cent of the total revenues during the quarter, according to market research firm techARC.

"By volume sales, the mid-price segment (Rs 12,000-Rs 25,000) will drive the contributions, with 42.1 percent smartphones selling in this segment," said Faisal Kawoosa, Founder and Chief Analyst, techARC.

According to the report, the channel contribution is witnessing a shift where mid, premium and luxe category smartphone sales are increasing compared to the earlier view where the basic segment would drive online sales.

There is an abundant choice of 5G smartphones available in the online channels too in the country.

"The leading marketplaces of Amazon and Flipkart are offering more than 50 5G smartphone models. Samsung leads with 20 5G smartphone models available followed by realme with 12 options for customers to choose from, while looking for a 5G smartphone online," Kawoosa informed.

Despite acute chip shortage, smartphone brands have managed to sell record handsets during the India festive week, making mobiles the strongest and most-loved category once again across ecommerce platforms. (Also Read: WhatsApp chat backups gets end-to-end encryption: Here’s what it means)

Xiaomi India sold over 20 lakh smartphones in five days of the festive sale across channels. In the premium segment, Xiaomi 11 Lite NE 5G, and Mi 11X Series received maximum demand, followed by Redmi Note 10S and Redmi Note 10 Pro, and Redmi 9 Series in the mid-value segment.

Its rival realme sold 70,000 units of realme GT Master Edition on the first day of Flipkart 'Big Billion Day' (BBD) sales. In the first three days of the 'BBD 2021', the smartphone brand had sold more than 10 lakh smartphones.

Realme said it witnessed a massive growth of 1,200 per cent in the Rs 20,000-Rs 30,000 segment on the first day of the BBD sale. (Also Read: OnePlus 9RT to launch on October 13: Check expected price, specs and more)

Apple 12 and Apple 12 Mini are currently the favourite smartphone models, accounting for most of the 2 lakh Apple iPhone 12 devices sold on Flipkart in early sales