Chinese smartphones suffer setback in India, sales fall due to premium shift

Chinese Smartphone Brands See First Decline in FY2025: The smartphone segment in India witnessed a strong turnaround in FY 2025 as the sales of Chinese smartphones in the country declined for the first time. The most affected brands are Xiaomi, Oppo, OnePlus and Realme.

With this decline in sales, revenue for top Chinese companies fell by 4.5 per cent in FY2025. This dented the shift in trends towards premium smartphones.

Weak Demand in Entry-to-Mid Segment

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Smartphone demand in the entry-mid segment is also weak, with the market share of smartphones priced below Rs 20,000 dropping from 38 per cent to 29 per cent during the fiscal year.

In contrast, premium devices continued to gain traction. The market share of smartphones priced above Rs 45,000 rose from 36 per cent to 47 per cent, indicating a clear consumer shift toward high-end devices.

Brand-Wise Sales Performance

Smartphone brands like Oppo, OnePlus, Realme, and Xiaomi saw sales decline. Of these, Oppo saw the largest decline of 38 per cent, while OnePlus saw a 13 per cent decline, Realme's 8.4 per cent, and Xiaomi's 7 per cent decline.

However, not all brands faced pressure. Companies such as Vivo and Lenovo reported growth during the same period.

Premiumisation Trend Reshapes the Market

This decline in sales of volume-based models in China could be linked to India’s growing premiumisation trend. As consumers increasingly prefer higher-priced smartphones with advanced features, brands heavily reliant on entry-level devices are feeling the impact.

India Emerging as Global Smartphone Manufacturing Hub

On a separate note, India is becoming the world's smartphone manufacturing hub, Union Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said. Sharing the figures, he said that smartphone exports for the calendar year 2025 (January to December) reached USD 30 billion.

Record Electronics Exports in 2025

Along with this, India achieved a record electronics export of USD 47 billion (Rs 4.15 lakh crore) in 2025, as highlighted by the Union Minister last month. He also mentioned that the country's electronics exports have increased 11-fold since the BJP government came to power in 2014-15.

With this, electronics have now become India's third-largest export product. And this is creating 25 lakh new jobs, ensuring stronger participation of women, providing opportunities for small and medium enterprises, and ensuring long-term skills development for youth.

FAQs related to the article

Q1 Did Chinese smartphone sales fall in India in FY2025?

Yes, for the first time in FY2025, sales of major Chinese smartphone brands declined.

Q2 Why did Chinese smartphone sales fall in India in FY2025?

The main reason for the decline in sales was that demand for budget smartphones weakened, while more consumers started turning to premium models.

Q3 Which companies were affected the most?

Smartphone brands like Oppo, OnePlus, Realme and Xiaomi saw a decline in sales.

Q4 Which brands saw the biggest drop in sales?

Among all, the biggest decline being seen in Oppo sales.

Q5 Why are people buying more expensive smartphones?

Nowadays, people are buying expensive smartphones for better features, due to which the demand for cheaper models has reduced.