India’s smartphone market followed a mixed trajectory in 2025, according to Counterpoint Research’s Monthly India Smartphone Tracker, with the year starting on a softer note due to elevated inventory and fewer launches, followed by a recovery in momentum from Q2, driven by fresh launches, aggressive promotions and festival-led channel stocking, which pushed Q3 to a record quarterly value. Shipments slowed again in Q4 as brands prioritized inventory correction after the festive season and managed rising component costs. Overall, the market grew a modest 1% YoY in volume but a stronger 8% YoY in value, underscoring sustained premiumization.

Commenting on the market’s value dynamics, Research Director Tarun Pathak said, “India’s macroeconomic environment remained stable and resilient in 2025, supported by strong domestic demand, controlled inflation, and repo rate cuts that eased financial conditions and supported discretionary spending. OEMs leveraged this by strengthening their premium portfolios, with a sharper focus on high-end camera capabilities such as portrait photography and flagship-grade experiences, alongside easier financing options that enabled faster upgrades and greater budget flexibility.

“As a result, the premium segment (> INR 30,000) emerged as the fastest-growing in 2025 in volume terms, expanding 11% YoY and accounting for 22% of overall shipments, the highest share ever recorded, driving the market’s highest-ever annual value growth of 8% YoY. Apple too recorded its highest-ever annual value share. However, performance diverged sharply across OEMs at year-end as rising memory and component costs constrained aggressive pricing and promotions, disproportionately impacting brands with higher exposure to the budget and entry-tier segments, particularly in the sub-INR 15,000 price band where affordability remains highly elastic. In contrast, OEMs with a stronger premium mix proved more resilient, supported by higher margins, selective pricing actions, and sustained demand for flagship and near-flagship devices. These dynamics point to a more polarized market structure in early 2026, with premiumization continuing to support value growth while entry-tier volumes remain under pressure.”

Commenting on the competitive dynamics, Senior Research Analyst Prachir Singh said, “vivo (excluding iQOO) led India’s smartphone market with a 20% volume share, driven by a dual strategy spanning mass-market and premium segments. The Y and T series drove volumes, while vivo’s camera-first philosophy powered a 185% YoY surge in the X series, supported by its ZEISS partnership and the new X200 FE, which effectively bridges the gap between the V and flagship X series.

“Samsung ranked second, backed by a focused portfolio across the mass market via its A, M and F series, alongside steady premium traction led by the S series. Driven by a surge in demand for premium devices, the Galaxy S series accounted for its highest-ever shipment share in Samsung’s portfolio. OPPO (excluding OnePlus) took the third spot, largely driven by volume growth in its mass-market A and K series. Apple recorded 28% YoY growth, supported by stronger channel execution, deeper penetration into smaller cities through multi-brand outlets, and premium reseller stores. The iPhone 16 emerged as the top-shipped model in 2025, aided by targeted promotions and robust festive-season channel execution. . This also marks the highest-ever annual shipment share captured by an iPhone in the market.”

Looking ahead to 2026, India’s smartphone market is projected to see a single-digit volume decline as rising memory and component costs weigh on demand, especially in the sub-INR 15,000 segment. Meanwhile, price hikes and a sharper premium focus from leading OEMs are expected to lift average selling prices (ASPs) by 5%-7% YoY, further tilting the market toward premium devices.

Other key trends

• India’s smartphone shipments declined 4% YoY in Q4 2025, mainly due to seasonal post-festive demand slowdown, further aggravated by price hikes due to rising memory prices.
• MediaTek led India’s smartphone chipset market in 2025 with a 47% shipment share, followed by Qualcomm with a 29% share.
• Motorola (54% YoY) was the fastest-growing smartphone brand in India in 2025 by volume, driven by expanding retail reach, along with its clean Android experience and distinctive design, which helped the brand stand out in the competitive mid-range and sustain growth momentum.
• CMF was the fastest-growing sub-brand in 2025, achieving 83% YoY volume growth. This followed the announcement that CMF would operate as an independent subsidiary of Nothing, headquartered in India, alongside a $100-million manufacturing joint venture with Optiemus.
• Nothing was the fastest-growing OEM in Q4 2025, posting 32% YoY volume growth, supported by its expanding offline retail presence. Its clean UI, reliable connectivity and distinctive design remain key differentiators. The brand is also stepping up investments in India, in line with the ‘Make in India’ initiative, to localize smartphone production.
• Samsung led the foldable smartphone segment in 2025 with 88% volume share and 28% YoY volume growth, followed by Motorola. The Galaxy Fold7 and Flip7’s refreshed design language received a positive response from consumers.
• In mainline retail, financing penetration reached 40% of overall smartphone volume sales in 2025. At the same time, in the premium segment (> INR 30,000), nearly two-thirds of purchases were financed, highlighting how easy EMI options are increasingly enabling consumers to trade up to higher-end smartphones.
• Smartphones with Dolby Atmos support are seeing rising traction as consumers increasingly seek richer, more immersive audio experiences on their devices, driven by the large availability of music and AV streaming content in spatial audio or Dolby Atmos.
• Higher battery capacity, particularly in silicon-carbon batteries, is emerging as a key trend in India’s smartphone market. With average battery sizes up ~9% YoY, OEMs are increasingly leveraging bigger batteries as a high-impact differentiator, especially as rising memory prices weigh on mid-segment demand.
• Average smartphone DRAM increased 5% YoY in 2025, driven by the growing adoption of AI-enabled applications and on-device intelligence features that require higher memory capacity for multitasking and improved performance.
• The online channel recorded double-digit value growth in 2025, driven by aggressive promotions and festive-season offers on premium models, outperforming the offline channel in terms of value growth.

 Notes

• Premium segment signifies >INR 30,000 retail price.
• Value (revenue) is based on the wholesale price.
• Numbers are preliminary and include B2B shipments for OEMs.
• The value figures for smartphone OEMs’ shipments mentioned in this release do not reflect the actual revenue for some OEMs.

The comprehensive and in-depth ‘Q4 2025 India Smartphone Tracker’ is available for subscribing clients. 

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The Market Monitor research relies on sell-in (shipments) estimates based on vendors’ IR results and vendor polling, triangulated with sell-through (sales), supply chain checks and secondary research.

You can also visit our Data Section (updated quarterly) to view smartphone market shares for the World, US, China, and India.

About Counterpoint Research

Counterpoint Research is a global market research firm specializing in products across the technology ecosystem. We advise a diverse range of clients – from smartphone OEMs to chipmakers and channel players to Big Tech – through our offices located in the world's major innovation hubs, manufacturing clusters and commercial centers. Our analyst team, led by seasoned experts, engages with stakeholders across the enterprise – from the C-suite to professionals in strategy, analyst relations (AR), market intelligence (MI), business intelligence (BI), product and marketing – to deliver services spanning market data, industry thought leadership and consulting. Our core areas of coverage include AI, Automotive, Consumer Electronics, Displays, eSIM, IoT, Location Platforms, Macroeconomics, Manufacturing, Networks and Infrastructure, Semiconductors, Smartphones and Wearables. Visit our Insights page to explore our publicly available market data, insights and thought leadership, and to understand our focus, meet our analysts and start a conversation.

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