India's smartphone market shipped fewer phones in the first quarter of 2026. Data from the International Data Corporation shows a 4.1 percent drop compared to last year. Shipments were 31 million units, down from the year before.
After the festive season, people bought fewer phones. There was also a shortage of RAM parts because AI made costs high. Phone makers shipped more phones early because they thought memory and storage prices would go up. But buyers did not buy, so many phones stayed unsold.
Even though fewer phones were shipped, the total value of phones sold in India grew by 5.8 percent. This means people are picking costly models instead of cheap ones. The average selling price went up 10.4 percent to around 302 dollars, or about 29,000 rupees.
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Experts say this shows the market is moving to value growth, not just high sales numbers. Making cheap phones is hard now because production costs hurt profits.
Vivo was still number one with 19.6 percent market share. Samsung was second with 17.1 percent. Oppo was third with 15.3 percent. Oppo had the biggest growth, up 22 percent from Q1 2025.
Xiaomi and Poco together had 12.2 percent for fourth place. Apple was fifth with 9.4 percent. Motorola was at 8.9 percent and grew 14 percent. Realme had 8.8 percent in sixth place. iQOO was at 1.9 percent and OnePlus was at 1.7 percent at lower ranks. OnePlus had the biggest drop of 32 percent.
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Other reports from Omdia and Counterpoint also show the same slowdown. They say shipments were around 30.9 to 31 million units, with drops between 3 to 5 percent. All sources say Vivo leads with about 20 to 21 percent share.
Samsung and Oppo are next and are growing with cheap series and new models. DRAM and NAND prices are still high because of global supply problems. This is pushing phone prices up and it is hurting demand for the rest of 2026. Apple also got stronger and came into top ranks. iPhone demand stayed steady even when the market went down.