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Economic Times
18-07-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
When Flip Flops: Foldable smartphone sales shrink in India
New Delhi: It flips, it folds, and now it flops. Foldable smartphones—hailed as the future of mobile handsets when they debuted seven years ago—are now seeing their sales charts do some folding of their multiple iterations and a drop in the average selling price (ASP), foldable smartphone shipments in India fell 47% year-on-year in 2024, when they accounted for less than 0.5% of the overall market, according to was followed by another 20% dip in the first quarter of 2025, as per the market research firm that tracks shipments from manufacturers to distributors and retailers. Counterpoint Research, which tracks retail sales to consumers, reported a 12% on-year decline in 2024, and a sharper 36% fall in the quarter ended March. Analysts expect foldables to remain a niche segment for the foreseeable future as consumers largely consider the devices fragile, pricey—notwithstanding recent price cuts—and lacking attractive use-cases. 'Despite all the attention new foldable devices receive, they are still too expensive for mass-market appeal,' said Jan Stryjak, associate director at Counterpoint Research. 'Further, most consumers are still not sure what a foldable phone is for, and may still have concerns about the durability and longevity of the devices.' Also Read | Airtel offers Perplexity Pro subscription worth ₹17,000/ year for free to all users IDC expects foldable shipments to decline by over 10% on year in is more optimistic, forecasting a turnaround with about 20% growth this calendar year, driven by Samsung's latest foldables and fresh launches from Vivo and the segment is expected to remain niche with sales of under 800,000 units in 2025, said Shubham Singh, analyst at Counterpoint. According to the researcher, India's smartphone sales reached 153 million units in is not an outlier. Even in developed markets like Europe and the US, foldable smartphone shipments have remained flattish, despite increased competition driving prices downwards, according to multiple overall global shipments of foldables, Counterpoint Research has forecasted a single digit degrowth in 2025, after 2.9% YoY growth in the segment remains aspirational, and brands continue to launch new models as a showcase of their engineering prowess, experts said.'Moving into their seventh year as a commercial category, foldables are no longer emerging,' said Runar Bjørhovde, senior analyst at market analysis firm Canalys. 'But uptake continues to be limited to tech enthusiastic premium buyers, partly due to high price points.' The average selling price of foldable smartphones in India was $1,234, or about Rs 1.06 lakh, in 2024, down from $1,299 in 2023, according to IDC. It is expected to decline further this year with more brands entering the segment. Samsung—which had a head start in the foldable market with its Galaxy Fold and Galaxy Flip models—continues to dominate the category with a 79% share in India, according to Counterpoint. It is followed by Motorola with 11% market share and Vivo with 5%.Still, Samsung faces increasing competition from rivals undercutting its pricing and offering productivity-focused features.'The next wave of competition will come from software—how vendors use the foldable form factor to deliver truly differentiated experiences,' said Sheng Win Chow, senior analyst at Canalys. 'Combining multimodal AI with foldable UX unlocks new possibilities, especially in productivity, multitasking, and language tools.'According to Bjørhovde, 'AI features are slowly moving up in the decision hierarchy, particularly in markets such as India and China.'
Time of India
16-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Flip phones turn out to be a flop
New Delhi: It flips, it folds, and now it flops. Foldable smartphones-hailed as the future of mobile handsets when they debuted seven years ago-are now seeing their sales charts do some folding of their own. Despite multiple iterations and a drop in the average selling price (ASP), foldable smartphone shipments in India fell 47% year-on-year in 2024, when they accounted for less than 0.5% of the overall market, according to IDC. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Select a Course Category Technology Finance Leadership Data Science healthcare CXO Design Thinking Cybersecurity Digital Marketing PGDM Product Management others MCA Others Project Management Public Policy Degree Data Science Healthcare Operations Management MBA Artificial Intelligence Data Analytics Management Skills you'll gain: Duration: 12 Weeks MIT xPRO CERT-MIT XPRO Building AI Prod India Starts on undefined Get Details This was followed by another 20% dip in the first quarter of 2025, as per the market research firm that tracks shipments from manufacturers to distributors and retailers. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Play War Thunder now for free War Thunder Play Now Undo Counterpoint Research, which tracks retail sales to consumers, reported a 12% on-year decline in 2024, and a sharper 36% fall in the quarter ended March. Analysts expect foldables to remain a niche segment for the foreseeable future as consumers largely consider the devices fragile, pricey-notwithstanding recent price cuts-and lacking attractive use-cases. Live Events "Despite all the attention new foldable devices receive, they are still too expensive for mass-market appeal," said Jan Stryjak, associate director at Counterpoint Research. "Further, most consumers are still not sure what a foldable phone is for, and may still have concerns about the durability and longevity of the devices." IDC expects foldable shipments to decline by over 10% on-year in 2025. Counterpoint is more optimistic, forecasting a turnaround with about 20% growth this calendar year, driven by Samsung's latest foldables and fresh launches from Vivo and Motorola. Yet, the segment is expected to remain niche with sales of under 800,000 units in 2025, said Shubham Singh, analyst at Counterpoint. According to the researcher, India's smartphone sales reached 153 million units in 2024. India is not an outlier. Even in developed markets like Europe and the US, foldable smartphone shipments have remained flattish, despite increased competition driving prices downwards, according to multiple analysts. For overall global shipments of foldables, Counterpoint Research has forecasted a single digit degrowth in 2025, after 2.9% YoY growth in 2024. However, the segment remains aspirational, and brands continue to launch new models as a showcase of their engineering prowess, experts said. "Moving into their seventh year as a commercial category, foldables are no longer emerging," said Runar Bjorhovde, senior analyst at market analysis firm Canalys.
Time of India
01-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
India's smartphone shipments fall in 1Q25; Xiaomi's share drops to 13%: Counterpoint
NEW DELHI: Smartphone shipments in India slumped by 7% year-on-year in Q1 2025, impacted by high inventory levels and fewer launches of new devices, according to the latest report released by Counterpoint Research on Wednesday. Vivo led the market with a volume share of 22% in the January-March quarter of 2025, compared to a share of 19% in the corresponding quarter last year. It was followed by Samsung in the second rank, with a share of 17%, while third-ranked Oppo's share remained unchanged at 15%, the research firm's data showed. Xiaomi 's market share, however, fell sharply – from 19% in Q1 2024 to just 13% in Q1 2025, which pushed it to the fourth position. Fifth-ranked Realme gained slightly, up from 10% in Q1 2024 to 11% in Q1 2025, as per Counterpoint. Cupertino-based Apple recorded a 29% year-on-year growth, recording its highest-ever first quarter volumes in India, cementing its dominance in the premium segment. The iPhone maker also led the market (by value) with a share of 26% in Q1 2025. Further, London-headquartered Nothing reported a 156% year-on-year growth in shipments in Q1 2025 – marking the fifth consecutive quarter of growth, while Motorola saw a 59% year-on-year increase, largely driven by a strong demand from mainline channels. 'In Q1 2025, Vivo further strengthened its leadership in India's smartphone market, recording 9% YoY growth and marking its third consecutive quarter at the top. This performance was largely driven by strong traction for its sub-₹15,000 offerings, particularly the Y29 5G and T4x models,' said Shubham Singh, a research analyst with Counterpoint. He added that Samsung climbed to the second spot in the quarter, supported by multiple launches across price segments that helped drive momentum. 'The S series performed well, reaching its highest-ever share within Samsung's premium portfolio, driven by the S25 ultra series,' Singh said. By contrast, Xiaomi saw a decline in shipments in the quarter primarily due to higher inventory level. 'Despite launching the Redmi Note 14 series, Redmi 14C 5G and A4 5G, these models witnessed lower-than-expected consumer traction. This prompted the brand to adopt a more cautious approach, focusing on stock clearance,' said Singh. As per a recent report from market tracker Canalys, Xiaomi's shipments (including sub-brand Poco) in India fell by 38% year-on-year to just 4 million units in Q1 2025, compared to 6.4 million units in Q1 2024, as early Note 14 series launch saw a lukewarm response due to elevated inventory and cautious channel sentiment, although the Redmi 14C 5G helped maintain momentum in the affordable segment. MediaTek led India's smartphone chipset market with a 45% share, followed by Qualcomm at 32%, Counterpoint found. 5G smartphones captured a record-high share of 87% in total shipments in Q1 2025, as per Counterpoint. The sub-₹10,000 segment witnessed an exponential surge in 5G adoption, with its four-digit annual growth highlighting the accelerated diffusion of 5G into the mass-market entry-level segment. Offline channels remained strong during the quarter, accounting for 65% of the overall market. 'Brands ramped up in-store promotions and regional outreach, especially in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. The online share was steady at 35%,' Counterpoint said in the report. Read More | Tier-2 & beyond markets may drive smartphone sales in India this year Counterpoint expects India's smartphone market to grow at a low single-digit rate this year, driven by a favorable economic outlook and increasing global interest in Indian manufacturing. 'Lower tariffs compared to China and Vietnam are positioning 'Made in India' devices as a more cost-effective option for US importers, while the potential for enhanced bilateral trade between the US and India could further strengthen the country's appeal as a global smartphone manufacturing hub,' the research firm said.
