Indian mobile industry grew 20 times in 9 years

The production of mobile phones in the country has increased 20 times in the last 9 years. Electronics and Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnav gave this information in a post on X (formerly Twitter) after the review meeting of mobile production on Saturday.

The Union Minister said in the post that India's dependence on importing mobile phones has now reduced to a great extent. In 2014, the Indian mobile industry was 78% import-dependent. That means 78% of mobile phones in the country had to be bought from outside. He said that in 2023, 99.2% of the phones sold in India will have 'Made in India' branding.

4.3 crore smartphones were sold in the country in the July-September quarter. According to market research firm Canalys, Samsung remained on top with 18% market share in the second quarter. During this period, the company sold 79 lakh smartphones in the Indian market.

At the same time, Xiaomi wholesaled 76 lakh smartphones in the last quarter and stood second in terms of market share. At the same time, with sales of 72 lakh smartphones, Vivo is at third place, Realme (58 lakh wholesale sales) is at fourth place and Oppo (44 lakh wholesale sales) is at fifth place.

In the last quarter, mobile companies have launched new 5G smartphones to increase their market share, due to which the demand for entry level 5G smartphones has increased rapidly. There has also been good growth in the premium smartphone segment. This has been contributed by the offers available on Samsung's S23 series and Apple's iPhone-14 and iPhone-13.

Many foreign smartphone maker companies including Samsung, Xiaomi, Apple, Oppo, Vivo, Realme and OnePlus are producing smartphones in India. Recently Google has also announced that Pixel phones will soon be produced in India. After this, along with the iPhones sold in India, premium smartphones like Google Pixel will also be made in India.

Google Pixel phones will now be made in India also. It will start with Pixel 8. These devices will hit the market from 2024. At the Google for India event on Thursday, Devices Head Rick Osterloh said that the company will partner in India for manufacturing setup.

“This is an initial step toward expanding production to meet local demand for Pixel devices,” Osterloh said. More importantly, this is a big step in Google's commitment to Make in India.