5G smartphone shipment in India grows 163% in June quarter, report

India shipped 11 million 5G smartphones in the June quarter of CY2022, growing annually at 163% and quarterly at 7%, Cyber Media Research (CMR) said in a new report. 5G smartphones accounted for 33% of all smartphone shipments, the report added. 

Samsung led the 5G devices market with 28% of the shipments, followed by Vivo which supplied 15% of the 5G smartphones during the quarter. 

According to CMR, the share of 5G smartphones is expected to grow even further as a result of the recently concluded 5G spectrum auctions. “With the completion of 5G auctions, and anticipated roll-out of 5G services in India shortly, there will be further momentum in 5G smartphone shipments,” said Menka Kumari, analyst, Industry Intelligence Group at CMR.

Union communications minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said last month that 5G services are likely to roll out from October. On August 3, Airtel also announced that it has signed 5G network agreements with Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung to commence roll out of 5G by the end of this month.

Kumari added, during Q2 2022, consumer demand ebbed owing to the overall macro-economic environment. However, with the start of H2 2022, smartphone brands will focus more on offering lucrative schemes, offers and discounts to clear out their piling inventory.

The CMR report further shows that the shipment of value-for-money 5G smartphones (₹7,000 to ₹24,999) grew over 160% YoY, whereas overall smartphone shipments in this price segment grew just 12% YoY.

Shipments of affordable smartphones (sub-₹7,000) declined 61% YoY.