‘Made In India’ Smartphone Shipments Grew 16% YoY To 44 Mn In Q1 FY23: Report

Manufacturers shipped over 44 Mn ‘Made in India’ smartphones in the first quarter of the financial year 2022-23 (FY23), according to research firm Counterpoint.

The shipments grew 16% year-on-year (YoY) during the period, largely on the back of higher output by manufacturers to meet the criteria for performance linked incentive (PLI) scheme.

Chinese manufacturer Oppo led the space, accounting for 23.9% of the total ‘Made in India’ smartphone shipments. Samsung came in a close second with 21.8% shipments, followed by Vivo with 14%. 

Trailing them were Bharat FIH (9.8%) and Dixon (8.1%). However, the remaining manufacturers cumulatively were responsible for 22.4% of the total ‘Made in India’ shipments during the quarter. 

It is pertinent to note that Oppo manufactures smartphones for its retail brand Oppo, apart from other brands such as realme and OnePlus.

“The Made in India smartphone shipments grew as compared to last year. During the quarter, we witnessed increasing investments in the Indian manufacturing ecosystem with new plants being set up as well as existing ones being expanded…Going forward, the upcoming festive season will further drive the Made in India shipments due to the expected increase in local demand,” said senior research analyst at Counterpoint Prachir Singh.

The report also noted that in-house manufacturing accounted for 66% of the total shipments, while third-party electronics manufacturing services (EMS) firms were responsible for the rest of the ‘Made in India’ shipments in Q1 FY23.  

Among the third-party EMS players, Bharat FIH (manufacturer for Xiaomi), Dixon and DBG led the charts in terms of shipments in Q1 FY23. 

According to Counterpoint data, Padget Electronics, Wistron and Lava were the fastest growing smartphone manufacturers during the quarter in terms of shipments, growing at 396%, 137% and 110% YoY, respectively.

Homegrown brand Lava led the ‘Made in India’ feature phone segment, capturing 21% of the total shipments in Q1 FY23. Counterpoint also added that Lava was the biggest Indian mobile phone player in terms of shipments during the period under review.

The report also said that Optiemus led the ‘Made in India’ smartwatches segment, accounting for more than 75% shipments in Q1 FY23. Optiemus, Bharat FIH and Padget were the top three manufacturers in the truly wireless stereo (TWS) headphones category in the same period. 

Data from the firm also showed that VVDN and Mivi had a 90% share in the ‘Made in India’ shipments in the neckband headphone category, while Wingtech, Samsung and Dixon were the top players in the ‘Made in India’ tablets segment.

Smartphone Giants Look Towards India

The development comes amid reports that PLI disbursements could happen as early as the second quarter (Q2) of FY23, which could further boost local manufacturing.

The positive numbers point to the growing interest in India as an emerging smartphone manufacturing base. Many companies have set up operations here, while many others have expanded their operations in the country.

Recently, it was widely reported that tech giant Apple was looking to start manufacturing iPhone 14 in India from October onwards at Foxconn’s factory near Chennai. Besides, Google is also reportedly mulling moving some of its Pixel smartphone manufacturing capacity to India.

In July this year, Oppo announced its Vihaan initiative under which it plans to invest $60 Mn in Indian in the next five years to strengthen the local supply chain. Meanwhile, Samsung has also shored up manufacturing of its premium segment smartphones in India. 

“Going forward, with the Indian government’s additional focus on building an overall ecosystem for semiconductors in the country, the country will witness a rapidly expanding electronics manufacturing and innovation ecosystem. By doing so, it does not only aim to become an important destination for manufacturers and investors but also ensure its strategic position in the global value chain,” added Singh. 

According to a report, the Indian smartphone market, which was pegged at $139 Bn in 2021, is projected to grow to $281 Bn by 2028 at a CAGR of 10.5%.