No Proposal To Restrict Sales Of Chinese Smartphones Under INR 12,000: Rajeev Chandrasekhar

The government has no proposal under consideration to restrict the sales of smartphones under INR 12,000 manufactured by Chinese players, Minister of State (MoS) for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar reportedly said on Monday (August 29). 

“There is no such proposal in our ministry…There is a space for Indian brands … it is not to the exclusion of foreign suppliers or foreign brands,” he was quoted as saying in a Reuters report.

This comes over a fortnight after a Bloomberg report said that the Indian government was looking to push Chinese smartphone giants out of the country’s market to jumpstart its local ailing industry. 

The report cited mounting concerns in certain quarters of the government over undercutting of local manufacturers by high-volume brands such as Realme and Transsion.

A majority of the Indian smartphone sales comes from the sub-INR 12,000 segment. The report sent alarm bells ringing among the Chinese smartphone manufacturers, who are already under intense scrutiny for alleged violations of foreign exchange regulations.

Despite all this, the Indian smartphone industry continues to struggle in the face of competition from Chinese players. MicroMax, Lava, Intex are among the homegrown smartphone brands in the country. 

India and China have been at loggerheads with each other since 2020 over border disputes. The deadly clashes between soldiers of both the countries in Galwan Valley led to further increase in tensions. The aftermath has seen India banning more than 320 apps with Chinese connections. 

According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), 71 Mn smartphones were shipped to India in the first half of 2022, a decline of 1% year-on-year (YoY). The segment below INR 8,000 saw the highest decline at 5%. 

This dip was largely attributed to Xiaomi, whose shipments declined by a massive 28% in the H1 of 2022. Relme and Vivo witnessed the highest growth in shipments at 23.7% and 17.4%, respectively. 

Xiaomi continues to lead the Indian smartphone space with a market share of 20.4% in the second quarter of calendar year 2022 (CY22), followed closely by realme with 17.5% share and Vivo with 16.9%.

India’s smartphone market was valued at $139 Bn in 2021. This number is projected to rise to $281 Bn by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 10.5%.

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