Premium Apple, Samsung devices driving smartphone sales growth during festive season: report

Sales of premium smartphones grew both in value and volume between October 8 and 15 when Amazon and Flipkart had their flagship events, the Great Indian Festival and and Big Billion Days, respectively, according to data from technology market research firm Counterpoint Research. Smartphones from Apple and Samsung spearheaded the stellar show by the premium segment, helping lift overall sales.

According to the Counterpoint Research data, this segment saw 50% year-on-year (YoY) growth on Flipkart, driven by the sales of the iPhone 14 and Galaxy S21 FE. On Amazon, the segmental growth was almost 200% YoY, driven by sales of the iPhone 13 and Galaxy S23 FE.

ET reported on October 10 that ecommerce discounts and promotional offers had come down on the third day of the annual online festive sales, as brands and online sellers overachieved their targets, reporting a 25-30% spurt in sales by value compared to the same sale period last year.


This spike in business was despite it coinciding with the Shradh period, which is considered an inauspicious time for shopping in several parts of the country.

While Flipkart's festive sale has ended, that of Amazon is ongoing.

Apple, which pipped Samsung in terms of smartphone shipments from India in the June quarter, registered a 25% YoY on growth selling 1.5 million units, the data showed. Unlike last year, when only the iPhone 13 drove sales, models such as the iPhone 14, iPhone 13 and iPhone 12 experienced high demand this year.

The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE was sold out within two days of the sale commencing on Flipkart.

Further, 5G smartphones also registered robust growth with almost 80% of phones sold on both ecommerce platforms being 5G enabled.

“Overall, we believe the festive season smartphone sales this year will grow 7% YoY in terms of volumes while the average selling price (ASP) will grow 15% YoY,” the data noted.

A recent report from ecommerce-focused logistics firm Ecom Express and the Indian School of Business’s (ISB) Institute of Data Sciences said that Indians are set to spend between $140-160 billion on online purchases by 2025 thanks to greater engagement in smaller towns, with tier 2 cities driving the largest volume of online orders.