India’s smartphone shipments set for steep 15% fall in 2026 as component prices keep rising: Analysts

NEW DELHI: India’s smartphone market is set for a steep fall in volumes in calendar year 2026, weighed down by skyrocketing memory and storage costs that have pushed up handset prices, according to analysts. On the contrary, an acceleration in premiumisation and sales of pricier models will drive market value growth, they added.

Smartphones became dearer to buyers in India by over 20% year-over-year in the January-June period of 2026 (1H26), led by higher DRAM (memory) and NAND (storage) costs, according to Counterpoint Research’s estimates.