According to recent research, the number of Indian cities covered by 5G is increasing, leading to a milestone of over 100 million 5G smartphone users in the country. This is the first time that monthly sales of 5G smartphones have surpassed those of 4G smartphones. Counterpoint Research expects the active installed base of 5G handsets to exceed 140 million by the end of 2023.
In May 2023, the 100 million 5G smartphone sales milestone was reached, accounting for approximately 14% of the total installed smartphone base. Although the total number of 4G users in India remains higher than that of 5G users, the monthly shipments of 5G smartphones have exceeded those of 4G smartphones.
Statista predicts that the total number of smartphone users in India could reach over one billion this year. Counterpoint Research suggests that the increase in sales of 5G smartphones in the affordable price range of 10,000-15,000 rupees (US$122-183) has contributed to this growth. In 2022, only 14% of smartphones sold under 20,000 rupees (US$244) were 5G smartphones, but in May, this percentage rose to 26%. Interestingly, many 5G smartphone users in India are still using 4G networks.
The adoption of 5G subscriptions has been slow, and the free offers from Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel have not significantly increased subscriber numbers. However, both operators are rapidly expanding their coverage, with Reliance Jio covering over 6,000 Indian cities and Airtel covering over 3,000 cities.
In addition, Canalys, another research group, reports that India's smartphone market stabilized in Q2 2023 after three quarters of decline, with 36.1 million units shipped. The top five vendors in the market are Samsung, Vivo, Xiaomi, Realme and Oppo. However, Xiaomi and Realme have experienced a decline in market share, and even Samsung's figures have declined slightly by 1%. There has been a surge in offline demand as consumers seem to prefer physical retail.
The second half of 2023 is expected to see further sales growth during the festive season and the Cricket World Cup in October.
