Indian telecom market saw 36% value growth in offline retail in 2022: GfK

Hyderabad/New Delhi, March 9, 2023 – For 2023, GfK forecasts a stabilization of the global market and takes a closer look on the Indian Telecom market.

“According to GfK Market Intelligence for Offline Retail Sales Tracking, while the global Telecom market closed 2022 with a 9.7 percent decline in revenue compared to the previous year, India was one of the silver linings in Telecom Industry with a double-digit revenue growth in the same period over the previous year including Smartphones, Core Wearables and TWS mobile headsets”, explains Kartik Vasudevan, GfK expert for the Telecom market.

Smartphones: Revenue Increase and shifting consumer habits

The smartphone category, including phablets, saw a 15% percent demand increase from January to December 2022 compared to the previous year.

This increase in revenue is also characterized by increasing ASP in the smartphone market in India. The ASP of Smartphones was INR 17,032 which was a 17% growth over 2021. This shift in the ASP was also due to a shift in the price band demand which was led by changing needs of the consumers. 37% of Smartphones sold in 2022 were INR15,000/- and above by units. This is a 9 basis points increase from in contribution over 2021.

Accordingly, demand for premium devices also increased, with the revenue contribution of 5G models moving to 44% in 2022. At the same time devices with a larger storage capacity of more than 256 GB grew 122% in revenue in 2022.

Wearables: New sensor innovations driving Revenue

Wearables as a segment continued its growth in India and grew by 127% in terms of value over the previous year in offline retail. Within wearables categories in 2022, smartwatches grew by 93% and wrist sports computers by 349% over the previous year.

These shifts have been driven by increasing consumer demand for more detailed control of their health, via smart features. Accordingly, wearables with a sleep tracking feature (plus 136 percent) or blood oxygen sensors (plus 208 percent) showed strong growth. This trend also led to developments in innovation, such as the new feature of stress level measuring (EDA) which accounts for 5% of revenue already.

In summary, the next generation of Health Tracking sensors, which will expand the scope of applications, will drive the market.

Indian Telecom Market Outlook 2023

GfK experts forecast 2023 to be stable with value-driven growth for the Indian Telecom market compared to 2022. “While the top-tier towns continue to have a significant share, the shift in consumer needs and changing lifestyles are pushing higher adoption of smart devices in Tier 3 and below towns which contributed to 50% of the smartphone sales unit in 2022 while for wearables it contributed to 21%. Overall, the next level of telecom market growth will be driven by premium handsets, 5G, and wearable devices.”, summarizes Kartik Vasudevan, GfK expert for the Telecom market.

About the method

Through its retail panels, GfK regularly collects POS data in more than 70 countries worldwide for consumer tech and durables products. All figures are according to the GfK panel market, with global data excluding North America and presented in US dollars. Revenues are presented in US dollars Non-Subsidized Prices (NSP).

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