Small towns are still not buying smartphones

Smartphone sales in India is nearing saturation in metros, CMR-MXpresso said in a note. However, a more worrying trend for phone-makers is the fact that smartphone sales in small towns isn’t picking up.

The release said, “The top five Smartphone brands (excluding LYF of Reliance Retail) held 68% combined market share in first quarter of calendar year 2016 and 93% of their sales took place in Category A and B telecom circles.”

Category A and B telecom circles include Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh (East & West), among others. “Category A and B constitute 13 of the 23 telecom circles in the country, representing 73% of the telecom subscribers base,” it said.

The note further said, “Moving ahead, Category C that includes Bihar, Odhisa, Himachal Pradesh, Assam, North Eastern States and Jammu & Kashmir, which are also the markets for new entry level affordable Smartphones, could see some subscriber additions. Beyond this, there is also some scope in the circles within Category B.”