Mobile phone price up 16% in India in first half of 2026
Mobile phone prices have increased by 16 per cent on average in India due to an increase in the cost of memory, with a weaker rupee adding to the woes as it made imported components more expensive for local manufacturers, market research firm Counterpoint Research said on Tuesday.
According to Counterpoint Research, the overall smartphone market is expected to decline in double digits except that of Chinese mobile phone brand OnePlus, because of a limited increase in price. “Smartphone prices in India rose 16 per cent on average in the first half of 2026, but OnePlus kept its own increase to 8 per cent. The hikes came as memory costs climbed, pushing India’s average smartphone selling price to a record USD 318 in the second quarter of 2026,” the research firm said.
Phones priced below 10,000 saw the sharpest hikes, around 32 per cent on average, because memory now makes up a much bigger share of what these devices cost to build. Shipments in the sub-Rs 10,000 segment fell 65 per cent YoY in the first half (H1), 2026, and the Rs 10,000-INR 15,000 band, historically one of the biggest in the market, dropped 20 per cent.
Phones above Rs 20,000 kept growing, helped by higher launch prices, trade-in offers and no-cost EMIs that made pricier devices easier to afford.
“AI data centres have been soaking up DRAM and NAND supply, and a weaker rupee has made imported components more expensive, leaving most brands with little choice but to raise prices through the first half of the year,” the research firm said. Around 99 per cent of mobile phones sold in India are made locally.
According to the firm, most brands passed a large share of those costs on to buyers except OnePlus, which took a different route.
“Its biggest single price increase was 12 per cent, compared with 113 per cent for the rest of the industry, so the gap held not just on average but at the extremes as well. The lower hikes also did not hurt growth,” the firm said.
According to Counterpoint Research, OnePlus was the fastest-growing brand among the top five brands on online channels in the over Rs 20,000 price bands in the second quarter of 2026.
“OnePlus shipments are forecast to grow 5 per cent YoY in the quarter, while the overall market is expected to shrink by double digits,” the research firm said.
OnePlus stocked up on components earlier in the year, locking in memory at older, lower prices before costs rose sharply.
“In a cost shock scenario like this, brands usually have to pick between two choices – hold prices and give up margin, or protect margin and give up volume. OnePlus’s H1 numbers suggest it managed to avoid this, mostly because it secured components early and has a portfolio broad enough to spread the pressure instead of loading it onto one price band,” Counterpoint Research Research Director Tarun Pathak said.
Counterpoint estimates that memory prices are unlikely to come down before 2028, and the rupee continues to add to import costs, so the pressure on pricing is expected to continue.
