15% dip in smartphone sales in 2020 likely

According to market research firms International Data Corporation (IDC) and Counterpoint Research, the estimated sales in the Indian smartphone market are likely to decline by 13-15% due to Covid-19. Some of the reasons that this has been attributed to include recent spate of job and salary cuts whereby consumers will defer purchases, companies unable to ramp up production impacting supply of models, and the recent increase in GST on smartphones from 12-18% making models pricier.

India sold 154-158 million smartphones and before the pandemic. Revising its forecast from its previous 140 million estimate, IDC has now projected the smartphone market in India could hit as low as 130 million handsets. Meanwhile, Counterpoint revised its projection from 142 million to 137 million. This would be the first year of decline in smartphone sales in the country ever.

IDC expects there to be a 42% decline in sales of feature sales from 130 million handsets sold last year to around 75 million.