Chinese Smartphones Still Reign in India Despite Make-in-India Efforts
The smartphone industry in India is witnessing expansion driven by ongoing technological advancements. Although the Make-in-India initiative aims to manufacture smartphones locally, Chinese brands still hold a significant share of the Indian market.
Based on Counterpoint Research's monthly India Smartphone Tracker, the smartphone market in India is experiencing a record quarter in Q3 2024, with a 3 percent increase in volume and a 12 percent rise in value.
Considering the budget preferences of Indians, 5G smartphones made up 81 percent of the total shipments, with 93 percent priced between Rs 10,001 and Rs 15,000. The market share for smartphones sold by Chinese, Indian, and international brands has largely remained stable over the past five years.
Indian buyers are progressively favoring budget-friendly Chinese smartphones equipped with cutting-edge features. Despite numerous efforts by the government to curb the prevalence of Chinese smartphone brands, their market presence remains largely unchanged.
However, when it comes to chipsets, MediaTek led India's smartphone chipset market with a 54 percent share. Apple commands a 35% stake in the high-end smartphone market, followed by Qualcomm at 28%. This highlights the growth driven by the affordability and technological advancements of these companies.
A smartphone chipset delivers essential functions, including communication, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth usage, general computing, power management, memory, storage interface, and peripheral interfaces. Chinese smartphone brands have steadily held their market share in India, whereas Chinese chipset manufacturers have experienced only minimal growth in the Indian market.
Chinese chipset manufacturers are penetrating the Indian market and have observed a gradual increase in their market share in India. According to Counterpoint, UNISOC achieved an 11 percent share of the global smartphone chipset market from Q2 2023 to Q3 2024, while Huawei obtained a 2 percent share.
China is encountering difficulties on a global scale because of sanctions led by the US. Reports indicate that the US is planning to blacklist Chinese chip manufacturers over issues related to security and data privacy.
In this scenario, India has a significant opportunity and is making major strides to revitalize its chip industry. It is strategically working to create a domestic semiconductor ecosystem. The government's semiconductor initiative, with a USD 10 billion investment, aims to decrease reliance on imported semiconductor supplies and position India as a chip exporter.