5G smartphone sales to hit 144 million in India by 2025

The first wave of 5G smartphones will contribute to roughly 1 per cent of the shipment volumes in 2020, primarily driven by a hyper-competitive market conditions with smartphone original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) aiming to establish their market leadership early.

"In 2020, India will see the first wave of 5G devices from leading smartphone OEMs, mostly Chinese, aiming to establish their 5G leadership early. We anticipate around 10-12 5G smartphone models to hit the market during the year," said Prabhu Ram, Head-Industry Intelligence Group (IIG), CMR.

While 5G shipments will remain nascent, for early tech adopters, it represents more choices than before.

"With the onset of 5G, the field of play will get increasingly limited for Indian brands. Unless they start investing, and upscaling their R&D and innovation efforts around 5G, they will be further marginalized," added Ram.

According to the report, the shadow of coronavirus looms large on the Indian smartphone industry as of now.

"China accounts for almost 85 per cent of the mobile phone components imported into India. If the coronavirus-infected lockdown in China continues, it will spell serious trouble for smartphone brands in India in H1 2020, and potentially even beyond," cautioned Ram.