Indians can now afford 5G smartphones at just Rs 44 a day: Samsung India
The Indian smartphone market declined by 6 per cent (year-over-year) in the second quarter (Q2) of 2023, with 5G smartphone shipments growing 45 per cent (year-over-year)…reports Asian Lite News
India is expected to see 70-75 per cent annual growth in the 5G smartphone shipments during the ongoing festive season, a new report has said.
The country saw a 65 per cent growth in 5G handset shipments till July this year (year-on-year), according to market research firm CMR.
While value-for-money smartphones (Rs 7,000-Rs 25,000) saw a 61 per cent YoY growth, premium 5G smartphones (Rs 25,000 and above) saw a 68 per cent YoY growth.
Samsung led the 5G shipments in India with a 25 per cent market share, followed by Vivo at 14 per cent and OnePlus at 12 per cent, the data showed.
Around 150 5G smartphone launches are expected this year in the country, a 34 per cent increase from last year (112 launches).
The Indian smartphone market declined by 6 per cent (year-over-year) in the second quarter (Q2) of 2023, with 5G smartphone shipments growing 45 per cent (year-over-year).
“Despite the overall decline in smartphone shipments, the 5G smartphone segment showed promising performance capturing 47 per cent market share (up from 31 per cent in Q2 2022),” according to said Shipra Sinha, Analyst-Industry Intelligence Group, CMR.
About 31 million Indian users are expected to upgrade to 5G phones in 2023, representing a vast opportunity for further 5G adoption in the country, according to a latest Ericsson Consumer Lab Report. 5G in India has elevated overall network satisfaction by an impressive 30 per cent compared to 4G.
The 5G users in India stand out for their high daily engagement with apps, such as streaming HD video, video calling services, mobile gaming and augmented reality.
The smartphone features a cutting-edge Quad-Curved Floating Display that enhances visual aesthetics as well as incorporates advanced eye-comfort technology for prolonged, comfortable usage…reports Asian Lite News
Global technology brand Honor on Thursday announced that its upcoming smartphone — “Honor 90 5G” with a 200-megapixel (MP) camera will launch in India on September 14.
“Slated for a launch on September 14, Honor 90 boasts an array of impressive innovations across its display, camera and design,” said Honor.
The smartphone features a cutting-edge Quad-Curved Floating Display that enhances visual aesthetics as well as incorporates advanced eye-comfort technology for prolonged, comfortable usage.
The phone comes equipped with a 200MP main camera and a 50MP selfie camera that will capture stunning details with utmost clarity, the company said.
According to sources, the battery is expected to be around 4900mAh.
The device will also offer 4K video recording with 10X digital zoom.
Moreover, Honor also said that the Honor 90 will run on MagicOS 7.1, powered by Android 13.
MagicOS is a fresh new OS (operating system) designed to provide a seamless experience across cross-platform, cross-device experiences and also brings a fully upgraded software architecture for an unmatched user experience, the company stated.
According to the company, this next-generation operating system enables seamless collaboration across devices and the ecosystem, delivering a truly immersive and personalised experience for end consumers.
It is based on Android as well as PC and IoT operating systems, so devices running different OS can connect to MagicOS devices at a system level.
Some iPhone users report Face ID not working post iOS 15.7.1 upgrade
Trade-in programmes continue to be the driving factor for the new and used smartphone market globally…reports Asian Lite News
The global shipments of used smartphones, including officially refurbished and used smartphones, were expected to reach 282.6 million units in 2022, according to a report.
The unit growth represents an 11.5 per cent increase over the 253.4 million units shipped in 2021, according to the IDC.
This growth is expected to continue, as IDC forecasts that used smartphone shipments will reach 413.3 million units worth $99.9 billion in 2026 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.3 per cent from 2021 to 2026.
“Attractive price points are critical for growth as cost savings remain the primary benefit. However, a high-end inventory struggle due to elongated refresh cycles in the new market has used prices growing over 11 per cent in 2022,” said Anthony Scarsella, research manager.
Trade-in programmes continue to be the driving factor for the new and used smartphone market globally.
Additionally, in mature markets such as the US, Canada, and Western Europe, trade-in continues to play a significant role in speeding up refresh cycles through telco and retail-driven promotions, said the report.
The increased sale of higher-priced devices in the new market has also created a circular effect as many of these aggressive trade-in deals feature primarily on premium devices.
“How long these aggressive trade-in offers last remains a big question for buyers and sellers. Eventually, narrow margins will impact the overall profits of the channel, vendor, or perhaps both,” the report added.
Even before the launch of 5G services, approximately 80-100 million 5G-compatible phones were already in the market…reports Asian Lite News
As India rides on 5G with more than 50 cities and towns now enjoying the new technology, the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) Chairman Pankaj Mohindroo said on Monday that by the end of 2023, 75-80 per cent of the new smartphone launches will be 5G-enabled.
The 5G services were launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 1.
Telecom service providers have launched the service in select cities and plan to cover the entire nation by the end of 2023 or early 2024. “India as a nation is an early adopter of 5G technology. This 5G technology has opened a vast opportunity for a new generation of telecom equipment manufacturers, application providers, and internet of things (IoT), machine-2-machine (M2M) and healthcare services, among others,” Mohindroo said.
The mobile device ecosystem was an early starter for manufacturing 5G phones.
Even before the launch of 5G services, approximately 80-100 million 5G-compatible phones were already in the market.
5G will represent around 53 per cent of mobile subscriptions in India by 2028, with 690 million users, according to ‘Ericsson Mobility Report’.
5G subscriptions in India were expected to reach around 31 million by the end of 2022. On semiconductor industry, Mohindroo said that the Indian semiconductor market was $15 billion in 2020 and expected to reach $63 billion by 2023 at 30 per cent CAGR.
“This is a huge opportunity for the nation. The government is very focused on setting up the entire semiconductor ecosystem in the country from semiconductor fab, compound semiconductors, discrete semiconductors, assembly, testing, marking, and packaging (ATMP) units, etc,” said Mohindroo.
The India Semiconductor Mission offers an incentive outlay of Rs 76,000 crore for the development of semiconductor ecosystem in India, offering fiscal support of 50 per cent of the project cost.
“We feel that the next focus should be ensuring skilling of the workforce for the sector and incentivising the downstream value chain in semiconductor manufacturing,” he said.
Not only consumers but also enterprises and the public sector will be able to benefit from 5G over the period of next two years…reports Asian Lite News
As India rolls out 5G with showcasing some early use cases with telcos setting some aggressive deadlines, millions of smartphone users will only enjoy the super-fast Internet in 2024 amid infrastructure limitations, limited use cases and low 5G handset penetration, industry experts said on Monday.
India is home to more than 500 million smartphone users and over 100 million users with 5G-ready smartphones wish to upgrade to a 5G subscription in 2023, according to a latest Ericsson report.
However, there are multiple challenges ahead for telecom service providers to meet the tough roll-out deadlines.
“In theory, there are use cases out there which really warrant and demand 5G: enterprise solutions, private networks, IoT, logistics. But it could take a year or more for those applications to really take off,” said Prasanto K. Roy, a leading technology and public policy expert.
Telcos will focus on converting existing higher-ARPU (average revenue per user) individual customers to 5G, which really limits how much more they can charge for 5G especially in a competitive space.
“I don’t see 5G really bumping up ARPU overall in any significant way — at least not in 2023,” Roy said.
In the top four metros, consumers should be able to experience 5G in early October (according to Airtel) to late October (according to Reliance Jio), with Airtel planning to take 5G to eight cities this month.
There are no 5G roll out plans from Vodafone-Idea yet.
“However, with tariffs still unclear, I do not know if current 4G customers will all be able to sample a limited trial, or will have to upgrade right away. Although Airtel (and possibly Jio) expects a revenue increase (from its current ARPU of Rs 183), I do not expect most customers to shell out much more for 5G,” Roy noted.
The Ericsson study, however, claimed that the Indian smartphone users are willing to pay a 45 per cent premium for a plan bundled with novel experiences, which could be a delight for Internet service providers ready with 5G.
According to Neil Shah, Vice President of Research at Counterpoint, in terms of population coverage, for all operators, India should reach the current blanket 4G coverage by the end of 2024 , way sooner than the 4G or 3G era.
“Jio is in a driver’s seat with respect to its peers to likely achieve a pan India 5G network rollout over the next 15 months with no 2G, 3G and 4G baggage,” said Shah.
Not only consumers but also enterprises and the public sector will be able to benefit from 5G over the period of next two years.
“Airtel, on the other hand, also has been building a highly upgradeable network to easily reuse the same towers for both 4G and 5G. Most of its key circles should be able to experience 5G by mid-2024,” Shah noted.
According to smartphone players, 5G has the potential to bring together the entire ecosystem and online gaming, augmented/virtual reality (AR-VR) experience, along with content creation, will take centre-stage with the launch of 5G services.
“With 5G being officially available now, we are looking forward to exploring the numerous opportunities it provides to us and will be directing our efforts into making this technology even more accessible to users,” said Madhav Sheth, CEO realme India, VP, realme and President, realme International Business Group.
According to Roy, infrastructure limitations and limited use cases and revenue also pose great challenges for telcos and smartphone players.
“To really leverage 5G bandwidth and latency, towers are to be connected by fibre. Only a third of them are ‘fiberised’ so I would expect 5G service to be reserved for large cities until the fiber gets to twice that number of towers,” he explained.
Telcos have also struggled with adequate tower density even for 4G, but 5G needs a much higher tower density — increasing upfront investment.
“All this capex investment would also be limited by the telcos’ high debt and stagnant ARPU (revenues), already stretched by spectrum fees and initial 5G investments,” according to Roy.
IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw expects telcos to invest Rs 2-3 lakh crore on 5G and 4G in the next two years for better voice quality and high-speed data.
There are also 5G network equipment availability challenges, because of very strict supply chain reporting mandates for cybersecurity and related reasons since June 2021 (called the NSDTS directive).
“This is slowing down approved telecom and IT equipment available for the telcos, or requiring them to apply for case by case exemptions,” Roy said.
In the smartphone segment, in-house manufacturing contributed to almost 66 per cent of the total ‘Make in India’ shipments in the June quarter…reports Asian Lite News
In order to meet the criteria for performance-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, ‘Make in India’ smartphone shipments grew 16 per cent year-on-year to reach 44 million units in the first quarter of this financial year, according to a new report.
The Indian government’s push with multiple PLI schemes has been showing a positive impact and “we saw increased local manufacturing share in product segments like smartwatch, TWS, neckband and tablet”, said Counterpoint Research.
OPPO led the ‘Make in India’ smartphone shipments with a 24 per cent share, followed by Samsung and Vivo.
Lava led the feature phone shipments with 21 per cent share.
“OPPO recently announced the Vihaan initiative under which it plans to invest $60 million in the next five years to empower the local supply chain. Samsung also increased its manufacturing with the premium segment smartphones, especially the Galaxy S series,” said senior research analyst Prachir Singh.
In the smartphone segment, in-house manufacturing contributed to almost 66 per cent of the total ‘Make in India’ shipments in the June quarter, while the rest of the 34 per cent shipments came from third-party EMS (electronics manufacturing services) players.
Among the third-party EMS players, Bharat FIH, Dixon and DBG were the leading players during the quarter.
Padget Electronics (396 per cent YoY), Wistron (137 per cent YoY) and Lava (110 per cent YoY) were the fastest growing smartphone manufacturers during the quarter in terms of shipments.
“Also, we may see disbursement of PLI incentives during Q3 2022, which will further boost the local manufacturing sentiments,” said the report.
Optiemus leads the Made in India shipments for smartwatches with more than 75 per cent share.
In the wearable segment, TWS led in terms of domestic manufacturing with a 16 per cent contribution, followed by neckbands and smartwatches.
In TWS, Optiemus, Bharat FIH and Padget are the top three manufacturers.
In the neckband category, VVDN and Mivi have a 90 per cent share in the ‘Make in India’ shipments.
In the tablet category, Wingtech, Samsung and Dixon are the top players while in the TV category, Dixon, Radiant, Samsung and LG have a 50 per cent share.
“The government aims to make India an electronics manufacturing hub in the next four to five years. To help drive more initiatives under the themes of ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’, the government, in its last budget, pushed the total allocation to $936.2 million,” said research analyst Priya Joseph.
Demand has started to wane following economic headwinds and regional uncertainty…reports Asian Lite News
Global smartphone shipments fell 9 per cent (year on year) in the second quarter (Q2) this year as Samsung led with a 21 per cent market share, a new report has said.
Apple came second with a 17 per cent market share as the iPhone 13 remained in high demand.
Xiaomi, OPPO and vivo continued to struggle in China, suffering double-digit declines to take 14 per cent, 10 per cent and 9 per cent market shares, respectively, according to research firm Canalys.
Demand has started to wane following economic headwinds and regional uncertainty, the report noted.
“Vendors were forced to review their tactics in Q2 as the outlook for the smartphone market became more cautious,” said Canalys Research Analyst Runar Bjorhovde.
Economic headwinds, sluggish demand and inventory pileup have resulted in vendors rapidly reassessing their portfolio strategies for the rest of 2022.
“The oversupplied mid-range is an exposed segment for vendors to focus on adjusting new launches, as budget-constrained consumers shift their device purchases toward the lower end,” he added.
Falling demand is causing great concern for the entire smartphone supply chain.
“While component�supplies and cost pressures are easing, a few concerns remain within logistics and production, such as some emerging markets’ tightening import laws and customs procedures delaying shipments,” said analyst Toby Zhu.
In the near term, vendors will look to accelerate sell-through using promotions and offers ahead of new launches during the holiday season to alleviate the channel’s liquidity pressure.
But in contrast to last year’s pent-up demand, consumers’ disposable income has been affected by soaring inflation this year.
“Deep collaboration with channels to monitor the state of inventory and supply will be vital for vendors to identify short-term opportunities while maintaining healthy channel partnerships in the long run,” Zhu added.
Meanwhile, potential demand for the upcoming iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro series is continuing to grow in China, says a new report.
In a tweet, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that his continued conversations with distributors, retailers, and scalpers in China has led him to believe that “potential demand for the iPhone 14 series is continuing to increase,” reports AppleInsider.
According to Kuo, this is likely because Apple “almost dominates” the high-end smartphone market in China after Huawei exited the 5G market in the wake of a US ban that left the company unable to source many of its core components and technologies.
The gap left by Huawei means that there are a greater number of potential iPhone users in the market than there were before, Kuo said.
Kuo’s latest prediction builds on a previous forecast he shared in late June.
In a tweet on June 30, the analyst said that potential demand for the upcoming iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro could be stronger than the iPhone 13.
That’s particularly significant because the iPhone 13 is said to be selling better than past lineups, the report said.
Apple, MediaTek, Qualcomm and Unisoc gained market share while HiSilicon and Samsung LSI lost share…reports Asian Lite News
Amid the acute demand-supply gap, the global smartphone applications processor (AP) market grew 23 per cent to $30.8 billion in 2021, a new report has said.
Qualcomm maintained its smartphone AP leadership with a 38 per cent revenue share, followed by MediaTek and Apple with 26 per cent each, according to market research firm Strategy Analytics.
Apple, MediaTek, Qualcomm and Unisoc gained market share while HiSilicon and Samsung LSI lost share.
“For the first time on an annual basis, MediaTek overtook Qualcomm in units and established over 75 million unit-leads in smartphone APs in 2021,” said Sravan Kundojjala, Director of Handset Component Technologies service at Strategy Analytics.
MediaTek capitalised on Qualcomm’s defocus on mid and low tier 4G LTE APs and gained volume share.
Despite the loss of unit share crown, Qualcomm exited 2021 with over 43 per cent higher revenue than MediaTek, thanks to an increased mix of higher-priced premium and high-tier APs,” Kundojjala added.
Both companies performed well in the 5G AP segment and posted a 13-year high in their AP average selling prices (ASPs).
5G-attached AP shipments grew 84 per cent year-over-year, accounting for 46 per cent of total smartphone APs shipped in 2021.
Shipments of APs with on-device artificial intelligence (AI) engines crossed 900 million in 2021, roughly flat compared to 2020, the report said.
Top-selling Android AI APs include Snapdragon 888/888+, 765/G, 750G and 662 and Dimensity 700.
TSMC manufactured three in four smartphone APs shipped in 2021.
In addition, semiconductor foundries, including TSMC and Samsung Foundry, held up well despite supply constraints and helped the industry capture growth.
Google entered the smartphone AP market in 2021 with its Pixel Tensor chip, capturing approximately 0.1 per cent unit and revenue share.
“For the first time in the last six years, Samsung shipped less than 100 million APs in 2021. However, Samsung could regain market share with its new Exynos 1280 mid-range 5G AP in 2022,” Kundojjala added.
Samsung Display dominated the market with 49 per cent revenue share, followed by BOE Technology with 16 per cent and LG Display with 8 per cent in 2021…reports Asian Lite News
The global smartphone display panel market recorded a revenue of $46 billion in 2021 and OLED display led the market.
OLED display panels saw increased adoption in the supply chains of leading smartphone OEMs (original equipment manufacturers), according to Strategy Analytics.
“We note more than 600 million OLED panels for smartphones were shipped to OEMs,” said senior analyst Jeffrey Mathews.
The smartphone display panel recorded more than 5 per cent annual revenue growth.
Samsung Display dominated the market with 49 per cent revenue share, followed by BOE Technology with 16 per cent and LG Display with 8 per cent in 2021.
The top-three display panel vendors captured nearly 72 per cent revenue share in the global smartphone display panel market.
“The OLED segment continued to see strong momentum in terms of customer demand. However, the shortage of display driver ICs and increasing BOM restricted the growth of the OLED segment and allowed LCD panels to capture volumes,” said Mathews.
Smartphone Display Panel technology is set to be a strong point of differentiation this year.
“We forecast intense competition for OLED displays as leading smartphone OEMs continue to seek more display suppliers to counter cost and supply challenges,” said Stephen Entwistle, Vice President of the Strategic Technologies Practice.
It also comes with an exclusive offer where consumers can avail of free one-time screen replacement of a broken screen within 100 days of purchase…reports Asian Lite News
itel, India’s most trusted brand and a dominant leader in the sub Rs 7,000 segment announced the launch of its new-age disruptor itel A49.
After the huge success of its A series in India with the launch of itel A47 and A48, itel A49 redefines the premium affordability segment with a super big 6.6″ HD+ IPS Waterdrop display and a massive 4000 mAh Li-polymer inbuilt battery.
“itel has created a niche for itself in the Sub 7k price segment and this positive growth momentum of the brand is fuelled by its strong commitment to the mass consumers by delivering high-quality products across accessible price segments. The launch of itel A49 reinstates itel’s commitment towards providing a seamless and superior smartphone experience at a highly affordable quotient. itel A49 is an industry disruptor, fully loaded with segment-leading ultimate features, designed to cater to the new-age consumer’s aspiration of great immersive viewing experience and powerful battery, ” Arijeet Talapatra, CEO, TRANSSION India said in a statement.Priced aggressively at Rs 6499, the evolutionary upgrade of A49 continues with our legacy of democratizing technology for the masses and enriching customers’smartphone experience at an affordable price point.
This futuristic smartphone is India’s most affordable 2GB Waterdrop HD+ display smartphone that comes with power-packed features like a massive Inbuilt Lithium Polymer battery, advanced dual security features, high-capacity storage, power to photography with AI dual camera, and much more to meet the digital needs of customers whether it is for studying, binge-watching or entertainment.
It also comes with an exclusive offer where consumers can avail of free one-time screen replacement of a broken screen within 100 days of purchase.
Fulfilling the aspirations of semi-urban and rural consumers, itel A49 comes loaded with exciting features that will provide an all-round experience to the consumers at an affordable price. The smartphone is clad in a 6.6-inch HD+ IPS Waterdrop full-screen display to give a theatre-like viewing experience.
It comes with the latest Android 11(Go Edition) and is powered with a 1.4GHz quad-core processor for seamless multitasking functionality. In terms of memory configurations, the phone comes with 2GB RAM and 32GB ROM with expandable memory up to 128GB.
On the battery front, itel A49 is powered by a massive 4000mAh Inbuilt Li-Polymer battery and smart power-saving mode with AI Power master to endure an entire day of usage.
The phone also comes with dual security features like fast face unlock and a multi-feature fingerprint sensor for a seamless unlocking experience.
The smartphone comes equipped with a dual 5MP AI rear camera with LED flash and a 5MP selfie cameraa”configured in the unique camera setup, adding to the premium look and feel of the phone. The front 5MP selfie camera with AI Beauty Mode ensures a bright and clear selfie, even in low lighting conditions.
The smartphone offers dual SIM slots with a dedicated memory card. It also supports dual 4G VoLTE /ViLTE functionality. The new itel A49 smartphone features a gradient glossy finish and is available in 3 color options crystal purple, dome blue, and sky cyan.
The phone comes with an adapter, USB cable, battery, back cover, user manual, and a warranty card.
