Indians Are Buying More Premium Smartphones Than Any Other Country: These Brands Having Most Joy

Most Indian buyers now prefer to go big rather than spend on a budget smartphone. Latest industry reports even suggest India is one of the fastest growing markets when it comes to the premium segment, which usually looks at the Rs 50,000+ price range. We have seen the trends change in the past 12 to 18 months, and brands like Xiaomi, iQOO and even Samsung have noticed the change in patterns of the Indian consumers.

The premium market in India has mostly focused on Apple and Samsung for obvious reasons but other brands like Vivo, Xiaomi and even Google are giving people more options, with changes expected further in the coming 12 months as well. With the launch of 5G smartphones, the scale of the supposed value-for-money product has gone up.

By that we mean, you probably have to spend Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 to get a quality phone which would have cost you around Rs 15,000 a few years back. Brands believe that with the increasing availability of 5G phones, the budget market will eventually come to fruition but people clearly aren’t waiting now, and are happy to pay the big bucks to buy the latest flagships.

It also helps that brands have attractive financing schemes, which enables people to buy phones costing over Rs 70,000 with small instalments rather than spending all their money in one go.

We have seen similar trends in the car industry in India in recent years. Latest reports point to an obvious preference for the so-called SUV segment, while the affordable hatchback market loses interest with people happy to pay extra for more features and safety.

Coming back to the subject of smartphones, India is going to be part of the list which also has the Middle East, China, and Latin America among others, who will be heavily involved in the growth of the premium segment in the next few quarters.