Key Points
New Delhi: Indian mobile manufacturers appear to have their tasks cut out for them as they plan to re-enter the domestic smartphone market, which is still dominated by Chinese brands, regardless of the price levels: sub or above 10,000...
An ET survey, which constituted nearly 20 mobile retail shops in Delhi, found that none sold Indian mobile brands-firstly, shops had limited stock of sub-10,000 mobile phones-which used to drive volumes historically in India; and almost all the shops sold 2-3 times more 10,000-plus mobile phones than sub-10,000 handsets, with demand mostly for 5G phones over 4G phones...
"They (Indian brands) lack financial wherewithal and technological fundamentals and are dependent on global supply chains for manufacturing phones, and don't have volumes to bargain with global supply chains," said Faisal Kawoosa, founder of market research firm Techarc...
Experts say mobile manufacturers, most of them foreign, are focusing on the above 10,000 segment, which creates a space for Indian brands to re-enter the market...
"People who own feature phones want to buy affordable smartphones but post-Covid, manufacturers were forced to increase prices due to various reasons like supply chain issues and input cost rising, and they figured out a section of customers that can absorb the price rise so why not focus on the next segment, which is above 10,000."..
