4 out of 5 brands selling phones below industry price

Four out of five smartphone brands are selling their handsets below the average price of smartphones in India, a new report by CyberMedia Research (CMR) said on Thursday.

According to the "CMR India Mobile Pricing Index 2018", in a hyper-competitive smartphone market, consumers are more demanding than before and seek more from their smartphone than before.

Whether it is the latest specs, or overall experience, consumers seek the best and are driving the smartphone upgradation cycles, which in turn, contributes to increased average sales value (ASV) of smartphones.

"CY2018 witnessed growth in ASV of smartphones largely due to upgradation. A majority of the current smartphone shipments are essentially upgrades, driven by consumers seeking more from their smartphones," Narinder Kumar, Lead Analyst-IIG, CMR, said in a statement.

Indian and Chinese players contributed the most to the below industry average ASV, whereas every three out of five brands in above ASV segment were global brands.

"The decline in above ASV percentage can be attributed to increasing market consolidation. There was around 10 per cent decline in numbers of brands operating in the 4G Smartphone space. With top 10 players contributing 80-85 per cent of market, there is stiff competition for rest of brands," Narinder Kumar added.