New Delhi: While petrol and diesel prices in India are not increasing, India’s smartphone market is not immune to the chip shortage. As per a report by The Mint, smartphone prices are jumping across brands, Vivo, Samsung, Oppo, Realme, Xiaomi, and even Nothing. In some cases, it’s a 40 per cent jump.
What makes it worse is the timing. The market was already slowing down. People weren’t upgrading as often. Now this comes in.
Why smartphone prices are rising fast
A big chunk of the problem is memory chips. Their prices have shot up, more than 120 per cent in a short span. That hits every phone, especially the ones in the budget and mid-range segment.
Tarun Pathak from Counterpoint says, “Component makers are increasing prices to meet demand, and with consumer demand stagnant, brands are now passing the cost on to their retail networks.”
There’s also the global angle. The West Asia conflict has pushed up the costs of materials like plastic and fuel. You don’t see it directly, but it shows up in the final price.
How much have prices increased
Some of these jumps are hard to ignore once you see the numbers.
As per The Mint’s report, Vivo’s T4 Lite moved from ₹9,999 to ₹13,999. That’s a big jump for a budget phone. Samsung’s Galaxy A series has gone up by 30 to 36 percent in some cases. Realme has pushed a few models up by as much as 50 per cent. Oppo added around ₹2,000 across multiple devices.
Now here’s the awkward part. Prices are rising, but demand isn’t. People are already spending more on daily things like fuel and gas. A new phone doesn’t feel urgent anymore.
Navkendar Singh from IDC said, “The truth here is that smartphone makers are raising prices because component suppliers are catering to the high-demand AI memory chips.”
You can see this on the ground. People are stretching their phone usage. Repairs are back in trend. Second-hand phones are getting attention again.
What happens next for the market
And this may not stop here. Kailash Lakhyani from AIMRA said, “there is no near-term respite, and further price hikes are likely as memory chip prices are unlikely to reduce before the first half of 2027.”
That’s a long time in tech.