India’s smartphone market reported its weakest quarterly performance in recent years. The first quarter of this year felt the pressure as shipments slowed down due to reduced demand, coupled with a sharp increase in memory and storage prices, stemming from geopolitical uncertainties. Analysts estimate this dip to be between 2% and 5% of an otherwise around 35 million units shipment spread. Premium phones offer a ray of hope for phone makers in terms of margins and volume driven by aspiration, in a market scenario where consumers are mostly adopting a wait and watch approach to discretionary purchases.
For India specifically, projections have for long suggested that Apple will accelerate manufacturing of iPhones in India, for exports to other markets, to mitigate risks from the US and China trade tensions. Fresh cues for India will emerge in the coming days regarding whether existing estimates that Apple will assemble 28% of global iPhone shipments here by 2026, still hold true. Company CEO Tim Cook is visiting China with US President Donald Trump, along with other tech executives including Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and Boeing’s Kelly Ortberg and Tesla’s Elon Musk.
CyberMedia Research’s latest India Mobile Handset Market Review Report notes that while shipments of affordable phones declined 46% and the lower priced value for money segment slowed down as much as 12%, premium phones grew 25% in this time. “India’s smartphone market entered 2026 under clear cost pressure, largely driven by ongoing memory supply constraints. A sharp rise in DRAM and NAND prices has increased device costs, forcing brands to recalibrate pricing across segments,” says Menka Kumari, Senior Analyst – Industry Intelligence Group (IIG), CyberMedia Research (CMR).
