India's smartphone market rebounds in Q2 on fresh launches, eased inventory

Indian smartphone market

India’s smartphone shipments rose 7% year-on-year to 39 million units in Q2 2025, rebounding from a sluggish start to the year, according to Canalys (now part of Omdia). The recovery was driven by a flurry of new launches, aggressive channel incentives, and improving inventory positions—despite headwinds such as extreme heat, geopolitical tensions, and weak consumer sentiment.

Canalys said Vivo (excluding iQOO) topped the charts with 8.1 million units shipped and a 21% market share, followed by Samsung (6.2 million units, 16%), Oppo excluding OnePlus (5 million), Xiaomi (5 million), and realme (3.6 million).

IDC’s preliminary data pegs the quarter’s shipments between 34–36 million units, up about 3–4% YoY, after Q1 saw a 6% drop to 32 million units.

As a result of the initial slowdown, brands significantly increased their stock push in Q2, especially through offline retail,” Upasana Joshi, Senior Research Manager at IDC, told Moneycontrol. “Offline-heavy brands like Vivo and Oppo offered extra margins and schemes on old inventory and new launches ahead of the festive season.”

Sanyam Chaurasia, Principal Analyst at Canalys, said Vivo’s new launches were widely embraced by channel, noting strong momentum for the V50 series in Tier 1 and 2 cities, and sustained growth for the Y-series in semi-urban markets. The T-series also grew steadily online.

Oppo saw strong offline traction from the A5 and online gains from the K13. “Other vendors remained cautious with selective push strategies,” said Chaurasia.

Samsung leveraged zero-cost EMI schemes to boost sales of mid-premium models like the A36 and A56. Xiaomi, while down YoY, drove momentum with the Redmi 14C 5G and A5, alongside a design refresh for the Note 14 series. realme also declined but saw offline gains from models like the C73, C75, and 14X, which made up 35% of its Q2 shipments.

Apple slipped to sixth place in Canalys’ rankings, with over 55% of shipments driven by the iPhone 16 lineup. However, the 16e lagged due to its single-camera design and limited Apple Intelligence features, as per Canalys Q2 report.

IDC estimates Apple shipped 2.8 million iPhones in Q2 with a strong double-digit growth, albeit lower than the 3 million units shipped in the first quarter.

Motorola deepened its reach into smaller towns, while Infinix overtook Tecno to become Transsion’s lead brand, contributing 45% of its 1.8 million shipments. Nothing continued its meteoric rise, growing 229% YoY on the back of the CMF Phone 2 Pro and Phone 3a series.

Chaurasia warned that the second half of 2025 will depend more on retail execution than product cycles, with brands aggressively locking inventory through channel reward programs—offering foreign trips and even cars as incentives for performance during the Monsoon, Puja, and Diwali periods.

Retail infrastructure is also being upgraded, with better shelf displays, promoter tracking, and expanded financing for mid- to premium models. Still, Canalys expects a marginal decline in full-year shipments, citing structural demand weakness.