Budget smartphones under Rs 10,000 may disappear amid rising memory costs

Budget smartphones-those priced under ₹10,000-are expected to disappear from the market due to sharply rising cost of components, especially memory, which is driving brands to increase prices, industry executives and analysts said.

According to Counterpoint Research, volumes in this price segment will fall 20% this year, as major brands move to higher price segments. The shift is already visible. Budget phones that accounted for the majority of volumes in 2019 had only an 18% share in the market last year, the research firm said.