Ganges is flowing in the smartphone market, cheap phones are disappearing from the market, increased focus on expensive phones

New Delhi. If you are thinking of buying a new smartphone these days and are looking for cheap smartphones in the market or on e-commerce websites, then you will rarely see these options. Cheap smartphones continue to disappear from the market. Brands and retailers are now emphasizing on premium smartphones instead of budget smartphones, which raises the question whether the market for budget smartphones is dying or whether companies are no longer interested in promoting cheap phones.

Now a perception is being created in the market that expensive smartphones provide more value, due to which people are preferring to buy premium phones instead of budget smartphones. So what happened that the importance of cheap smartphones is decreasing? Are companies no longer interested in making cheap phones or are customers no longer interested in cheap phones? Perhaps due to EMI and other financing options, the demand for entry-level smartphones is also decreasing.

The changing nature of cheap smartphones
In India, smartphones priced between Rs 7,000-8,000 are generally considered cheap smartphones. Apart from this, smartphones priced below Rs 10,000 can also be kept in the category of budget smartphones. But with time the meaning of cheap smartphones has also started changing. Due to increasing trend towards premium phones and increase in the cost of smartphones, now even a phone priced at Rs 15,000 is being considered affordable. Nevertheless, phones priced below Rs 10,000 are generally considered cheap smartphones.

According to a report by CyberMedia Research (CMR) for the second quarter of 2024, the demand for smartphones priced below Rs 7,000 in India has declined by 26% annually. At the same time, there has been an increase in the shipment of 5G smartphones, especially the sales of smartphones priced between Rs 10,000-13,000 have registered an increase of more than 200%. The demand for cheap smartphones has been continuously falling for the last few years.

Reason for declining sales of cheap smartphones
There are many external reasons behind the declining sales of cheap smartphones. During the pandemic, there was a halt in production due to lockdown and chip shortage, due to which the prices of smartphones increased. Along with this, due to Russia-Ukraine war, supply chain was affected, due to which construction cost also increased due to inflation. Due to strict regulations and increasing trend towards sustainability, production costs also increased, leaving companies with no option but to increase prices. Because of this, the attention on cheap smartphones decreased and their availability started decreasing.

The biggest problem is that the phone is ‘cheap’
Cheap smartphones are often considered “low quality” because they are called “cheap” and “affordable”. But in the early 2010s, when smartphone brands came to India, the demand for cheap phones was high. At that time the smartphone market was not fully developed, and companies were launching expensive smartphones along with cheap phones.

Now due to increasing demand for expensive smartphones in the market, the space for cheap phones has reduced. Cheap smartphones do not yield much profit, so companies are now emphasizing on premium phones. Apart from this, many brands also want to strengthen their premium image. Seeing Apple’s aggressive strategy of producing expensive iPhones in India, other brands have also started adopting the same model.

Buying a phone became easier with affordable options
Instead of buying a cheap smartphone, customers can now easily buy phones worth more than Rs 50,000 through EMI and cashback offers. Due to EMI and finance, customers remain unaware of the actual price of the phone, and they do not feel any hesitation in purchasing expensive phones.

In a price-sensitive market like India, there is still huge demand for phones priced below Rs 10,000. But due to the focus of companies moving towards expensive smartphones, the attractiveness of cheap phones is gradually decreasing.

The gradual disappearance of cheap smartphones is a big question for the market. Perhaps now is the time to redefine cheap phones so that this segment can be prevented from disappearing.

Tag: smart phone, tech news hindi