IDC: India’s smartphone market declined 4.1% in Q1, vivo still dominates | Infinium-tech

According to a new report from IDC today, shipment volumes in India’s smartphone market have declined by 4.1% in the first quarter (January to March) of this year. The total amount shipped during that quarter was 31 million units. Despite the decline in volume, market value actually increased by 5.8%.

Interestingly, IDC says, “Rising memory prices prompted brands to front-load channel inventory ahead of anticipated cost increases, driving shipment volumes above initial expectations”. Nevertheless, the decline was due to “weak consumer demand”, higher device prices and “cautious spending sentiment”.

As you can see, Vivo is still the leader in India, with 19.6% market share in the first quarter of this year, compared to 19.7% in the year-ago quarter. Its shipments have declined significantly in line with the overall market. Samsung ranked second with flat sales and 17.1% market share, followed by Oppo with a market share of 15.3% and the largest year-on-year sales growth: 22%.

Apple is in fourth place and, like Vivo, its sales have also fallen in line with the overall market, while Motorola is the second-best performer in terms of growth behind Oppo, growing 14% year-on-year to reach a market share of 8.9%. Realme is at sixth place with 20% less shipments, Xiaomi is at seventh place with a marginal increase of 3%, Poco is at eighth place with a 14% decline in shipments, followed by iQOO with a huge decline of 23%.

That said, no brand performed worse this quarter than OnePlus, which saw the biggest decline in sales at 32% compared to Q1 2025. OnePlus now has only 1.7% market share, and it used to be 2.4% just a year ago.

IDC says that “consumers in the sub-$100 segment are being driven into the market out of necessity rather than aspiration” and that this is a trend that “reshapes demand forecasts for 2026 and beyond”. Companies that rely heavily on selling a lot of entry-level devices are “facing declining margins and reduced market viability” as memory prices continue to rise.

Sales of phones priced under $100 declined 59% year-over-year, with the largest increases coming from the $600-800 segment (up 32%), the $400-600 segment (up 29%), and the $100-200 segment (up 10%). The average selling price in Q1 was $302, an all-time record. Interestingly, offline sales account for 62% of the pie, with online sales at 38%, with the latter down at 42%.

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