The Indian smartphone market faced significant challenges at the beginning of 2025, according to a report by Cyber Media Research. The report highlights a seven percent year-on-year decline in the domestic smartphone market during the first quarter, with Vivo emerging as the leading brand by capturing a 20 percent market share. Samsung ranked second, while Xiaomi, Oppo, and Realme occupied the third, fourth, and fifth positions, respectively. In contrast, feature phone shipments plummeted by 37 percent year-on-year, with Itel leading this segment.
The CyberMedia Research (CMR) India Mobile Handset Market Review Report indicated that smartphone shipments in India experienced a notable decline in the first quarter of 2025. This downturn is linked to shifts in consumer preferences and increasing market competition. However, the premium smartphone segment saw growth, driven by rising demand for devices featuring 5G and artificial intelligence capabilities.
Growth in 5G Smartphone Shipments
During the latest quarter, 5G smartphones constituted 86 percent of total shipments, representing a 14 percent increase year-on-year. The report highlights that affordable 5G models priced between Rs. 8,000 and Rs. 13,000 experienced particularly robust demand, with their shipments more than doubling from the previous year. Vivo led the 5G market with a 21 percent share, while Samsung followed closely with 19 percent.
Within the overall smartphone sector, Vivo maintained its lead, holding a 20 percent market share, while Samsung secured 18 percent. Popular models such as Vivo Y29, Vivo T3 Lite, and Vivo T4X contributed significantly to Vivo’s 5G shipment numbers. Samsung, on the other hand, reported a 13 percent year-on-year decrease in its shipments.
Xiaomi held the third position with a 13 percent market share; however, the report noted a substantial 37 percent drop in the company’s shipments year-on-year. Oppo and Realme rounded out the top five with 12 percent and 11 percent market shares, respectively.
Motorola achieved impressive growth of 53 percent year-on-year, fueled by its competitively priced 5G portfolio. Conversely, Transsion Group faced a 13 percent decline, while the brand Nothing recorded a remarkable over 200 percent year-on-year increase.
According to CMR, Apple experienced a 25 percent year-on-year growth, capturing an eight percent market share in Q1 2025, largely attributed to strong consumer demand for the iPhone 16 series and the new iPhone 16e.
The segment of 5G smartphones priced below Rs. 10,000 saw an extraordinary growth of over 500 percent year-on-year in Q1 2025. Menka Kumari, a Senior Analyst at CMR, noted this trend reflects a robust consumer interest in affordable 5G devices, with brands such as Xiaomi, Poco, Motorola, and Realme leading this increase. Meanwhile, the 2G feature phone segment fell 17 percent year-on-year, and 4G feature phones saw a sharp decline of 66 percent year-on-year.
The report further indicates that the affordable smartphone category, priced under Rs. 7,000, realized a modest three percent year-on-year growth, although the value-for-money segment (ranging from Rs. 7,000 to Rs. 25,000) witnessed a six percent decline.
Additionally, feature phone shipments encountered a 37 percent year-on-year drop in Q1 2025. Itel Mobile led the 2G feature phone market with a 41 percent share, followed by Lava at 31 percent and HMD at 19 percent.
Looking ahead, the market research firm projects that the Indian smartphone market is likely to experience moderate growth, with shipment increases expected to be in single digits in the upcoming months.
