NEW DELHI: India’s smartphone data entries hone market suffered its steepest contraction in several quarters, with shipments plunging 26% in July–Sept as higher prices put buyers off upgrades and prompted manufacturers to curb supplies ahead of the festive season.Shipments fell to 35.8 million units, the lowest third-quarter volume since 2016, according to Omdia. The slump also changed the pecking order: Samsung displaced Vivo at the top, while Chinese brands’ combined share slipped to about 68% from 75% a year earlier.Samsung shipped 6.7 million phones to regain leadership for the first time since early 2024. Its affordable Galaxy A-series supported volumes, while cashback, exchanges and longer financing plans helped attract buyers across price brackets.Vivo’s shipments dropped 34% to 6.4 million — the sharpest decline among the top five. Repeated price increases disrupted retailers’ inventory planning, while limited supplies of entry-level phones weakened its position. Xiaomi’s traditional appeal of offering more features for the money also came under pressure.

Rising component costs forced trade-offs on pricing and memory configurations, with shipments falling 28% to 4.7 million.

OPPO ranked third with 4.9 million units, down 24%. Apple took fifth place with 3.9 million phones. Demand for the iPhone 16 and base iPhone 17, along with stocking ahead of anticipated price increases, supported shipments.“Fewer exclusive launches, limited affordable SKUs and narrowing promotional differences reduced the online channel’s traditional festive advantage,” said Omdia principal analyst Sanyam Chaurasia.A later Diwali exaggerated the quarterly fall by shifting some offline festive stocking into Oct. The figures track supplies to sellers, rather than purchases by consumers. But, the weakness could persist beyond the festive calendar.Omdia expects another low-single-digit decline in 2027, with pricing pressure lasting through at least first half as consumers hold on to phones longer.