The 6 percent full-year dip was clearly not as bad as what happened in other major markets around the globe, but the 27 percent (!!!) contraction of Indian smartphone shipments registered in the final three months of 2022 compared to the same period of the previous year is, quite frankly, disastrous.
Xiaomi still edged out Samsung for first place in 2022 sales, but the country’s only real winner of last year was Oppo, which gained 8 percent in shipments to occupy the fourth spot in the vendors’ chart, narrowly behind Vivo and ahead of Realme.
A “global economic slowdown” is primarily blamed for the declining smartphone sales in India (just like pretty much everywhere else), but while the regional market is expected to continue to struggle in the short term, its long-run performance prospects are not looking bad at all.
