India’s smartphone shipment to decline in Q4: Report

New Delhi:

Smartphone shipment in India is expected to see a decline in the December quarter due to supply challenges, resulting in annual shipments below 160 million in 2021, according to research firm IDC.
It had registered a year-onyear decline of 12 per cent in the September 2021 quarter, shipping 48 million units after four consecutive quarters of growth, IDC said.
The first nine months of the year (January-September 2021) already shipped 120 million units, with H1 2021 clocking 42 per cent y-o-y growth. Due to supply challenges, Q4 2021 is expected to see a decline, resulting in annual shipments below 160 million in 2021,” IDC India Research Director (Client Devices and IPDS) Navkendar Singh said.
The first half of 2022 will remain challenging, with some easing out expected in the latter half of 2022, he added. “Vendors/channels will keep an eye on the overstocking situation in case demand stays limited due to the price hikes by the suppliers and vendors,” Singh said.
IDC said much of this can be attributed to component shortages as well as an “unusually high third quarter 2020 comparison base” (whereas this year’s post-lockdown demand was addressed by July). Compared to the third quarter of 2019, September 2021 quarter grew by 3 per cent as channels stocked up for the Diwali quarter amid the supply shortages, it added.
Xiaomi led the smartphone tally with 23.4 per cent, followed by Samsung (16.9 per cent), Vivo (16.4 per cent), Realme (15.7 per cent) and Oppo (10.7 per cent) in the September 2021 quarter.
Online channels clocked a record high 52 per cent share, although with a 5 per cent y-o-y shipment volume decline, it said adding that offline channels registered an 18 per cent y-o-y shipment decline.
IDC said India was the third-largest 5G smartphone market globally with 7 per cent of worldwide 5G shipments, shipping 10 million units at an ASP (average selling price) of $401 in the September 2021 quarter. From January-September 2021, 17 million 5G smartphones were shipped to India and are expected to be fewer than 30 million for 2021.