Indians buying pricier smartphones, bringing ASP to new highs

This year’s festive shopping season in India began in the first week of October, when Amazon and Flipkart launched their respective “Great India Festival” and “Big Billion Day” deals. With the Diwali holiday on November 4, the season will come to a close.

In the July-August quarter, Indian customers purchased more expensive smartphones, bringing the average selling price or ASP for smartphones to the highest level ever at $226, up 19 percent from the same period previous year. Analysts predict that by the conclusion of the current Christmas season, the ASP would have crossed the $240-$266 barrier.

Counterpoint’s analyst Prachir Singh said due to the pandemic, the consumers may have accumulated savings, which will drive them to opt for a higher-priced device. “India smartphone market ASP has constantly been increasing. The market crossed the monthly ASP of $200 in October 2020 and has been maintaining the trend. During the last festive season, the smartphone market ASP grew 7% month-on-month,” Singh said

“We believe that the market will witness growth this festive season as well, which may lead the market ASP to cross the $240 mark driven by attractive promotions and offers during the festive season, helping the OEMs and channels to push the premium segment devices that boost the ASP,” Singh said.

He added that the ASP is also driven by multiple financing schemes and options focused on affordability. “Smartphone upgrade plans have seen a growth in adoption. Also, no-cost EMIs make the premium devices affordable for mid-segment consumers.”

TechArch founder and chief analyst Faisal Kawoosa said that as against the annual ASP of around Rs 15,000 ($200), this festive quarter, people are likely to buy smartphones with average pricing a little over Rs 20,000 ($267). The main reason is that the market is primarily driven by replacements, which in case of smartphones, is actually upgrades. Compsmag