India’s smartphone market is set to hit a record high of 173 million units in 2021, growing at 14 per cent year-on-year, according to Counterpoint Research.
More than 100 million smartphones are expected to be shipped in the second half of the year, it said. The market has been experiencing strong consumer demand after the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions in June, and the strong sales momentum will continue during the festive season from August to November, it added.
India’s smartphone market is the second biggest market in the world after China. In 2020, the Indian market outperformed the North America, Latin America and Africa markets.
“Our outlook for India for the next five years remains positive, keeping in mind its 1.39-billion (and growing) population, upgrade of users from feature phone to smartphone, and future emergence of new use cases. The market is set to cross the 200-million mark in the next couple of years,” Counterpoint said.
The research firm noted that the market has been experiencing a steady growth curve over the last five years to reach 158 million units in 2019.