India’s smartphone sales hit their highest point in five years during the busy holiday season of late 2025, hitting 48 million devices – a 4.3% jump from last year, shows fresh data from IDC. This comeback was fueled mainly by high-end models, while budget Android phones still struggled to gain traction.
Vivo Leads for the Seventh Consecutive Quarter
Vivo stayed on top in India, grabbing 18.3% of the market – higher than last year’s 15.8%. Its wide reach across different prices, along with solid online and offline sales, kept it ahead when holiday shopping spiked.
OPPO moved up to second place, holding steady at 13.9%, whereas Samsung dropped to third, landing at 12.6% even with slight growth compared to last year.
Motorola saw a big jump of 52.4% compared to last year – the largest gain of any brand – thanks to solid performance in mid-tier models.
Apple Hits Record 5 Million Quarterly Shipments in India
Apple just had its best quarter ever in India, hitting a 10.4% slice of the market by selling 5 million iPhones – its highest number yet. For the first time, it climbed to fourth place in the country’s rankings during Q3.
The iPhone 16 became India’s top-sold smartphone, making up 5% of total sales. Meanwhile, the fresh iPhone 17 lineup along with the iPhone Air accounted for 16% of Apple’s quarterly output – its strongest start since 2021.
Premium Push Drives Market Growth
India’s smartphone prices hit a record $294 on average, rising 13.7% compared to last year – showing more people are buying higher-end models instead of budget ones.
Here’s a look at how each price range did:
Sub–US$100 (Entry-Level): Up 35.3% YoY
- Share rose from 13% to 16%
- Led by Xiaomi, realme, and vivo
US$100–US$200 (Mass Budget): Down 8.8% YoY
- Share fell from 45% down to 40%.
- OPPO A5 and vivo T4X were top sellers
US$200–US$400 (Entry-Premium): Down 4.9% YoY
- vivo, OPPO, Samsung lead the segment
- Motorola’s Edge 60 Fusion topped shipments here
US$400–US$600 (Mid-Premium): Up 10.7% YoY
- Samsung leads, followed by OPPO and OnePlus
- One out of every four phones shipped was a Galaxy S24
US$600–US$800 (Premium): Up 43.3% YoY
- Apple led by selling mostly iPhone 16, then iPhone 15 – also newer models helped grab over 70%
Above US$800 (Super-Premium): Up 52.9% YoY
- Apple reclaimed the No.1 spot from Samsung
- Top models included Galaxy S24 Ultra, iPhone 16 Pro, Galaxy Z Fold7
Chipset Market: Qualcomm Gains, MediaTek Slips
- Phones using Qualcomm chips jumped 17.9% compared to last year, grabbing 29.2% of the market – boosted by solid sales from Xiaomi, POCO, along with Nothing handsets.
- MediaTek’s piece of the pie dropped to 46%, as shipments slid 9.7% compared to last year.
Offline Retail Grows; Online Sees Sharp Decline
- Offline sales kept rising fast – up 21.8% from last year – with their market slice now at 56.4%. Dealer discounts, holiday deals, or adjusted pricing helped keep things moving strong.
- In comparison, web-based deliveries fell 12% year-on-year, falling to a 43.6% portion. Deep price cuts mainly focused on high-end smartphones, which weakened interest in low-cost Android models.
IDC Outlook: A Weak Q4 Ahead
Even though things are busy now, IDC says sales might slow by late 2025 because of:
- Stockpiling hits budget-friendly and middle-range gadgets
- Rising prices for parts – memory chips in particular – are adding pressure
- Currency changes caused prices to rise after Diwali
- So IDC predicts a drop each year – shipments likely dipping under 150 million by 2025.
**Data source: IDC worldwide
Prasad aka PD is an automotive enthusiast from Mumbai who splits his time between his corporate sales job and his love for motorcycles. He covers bike launches, engine tech, and the evolving EV space with genuine curiosity and excitement.