Smartphones became an inevitable part of our lives when we were all locked in our homes. Indian smartphone users spent 25% more time on their phones in 2020 which accounted for almost 7 hours per day. In the year 2020, people started depending on smartphones more and hence, the demand for smartphones equipped with multitasking increased. The most sold smartphones in 2020 were from Xiaomi and the price bracket these smartphones were sold in is sub-Rs.10,000. While iPhone 7 remained the hot buyback alternative in 2020, Delhiites remained the avid buyback fans in the country.
Second hand Smartphone Sales
Xiaomi topped the chart with 26% second hand sales in 2020. However, Apple followed Xiaomi by 20% in the second hand sales chart. Samsung was the third brand in the second hand sales chart with 16%. iPhone 7 was the top selling buyback model at 5% sales which is followed by Apple iPhone 6 at 4%. Apple iPhone 6S and Redmi Note 4 accounted for 3% sales for second hand. Apple iPhone X and Redmi 4 both sold 2% second hand phones whereas the OnePlus 6 and Apple iPhone 5S both only sold 1% second hand smartphones.
Also read: 2017 Cashify White Paper Summary
Top Selling Cities
The top selling cities almost acquired 46% in total. New Delhi’s market share in total phones traded online gauged at 23% whereas Mumbai’s market share went to 13%. Both these cities top the list of top selling smartphones. On the other hand, Bengaluru witnessed a decline in the market share to 11% from 13%. Hyderabad’s market share is 7% which remains constant since 2018. Pune saw a decline in the online smartphone trade as it went to 5% from 6% in 2018.
Refurbished smartphones took the centre stage in the second half of 2020. Refurbished phones are just like brand-new devices with good functionality and reduced prices. It became an affordable substitute for people looking out to purchase the new phones but at the same time did not want to spend much.
Reign of Refurbished Smartphones
Redmi Note 5 Pro was the top model in the refurbished smartphones 2020 segment at 21% followed by Apple iPhone 6 and Redmi Note 4 at 11%. Apple iPhone 6S and Redmi 5A both are at 9% when it comes to refurbished smartphones list. Redmi Note 5 is at 7% whereas Redmi Note 7 Pro, Redmi Y2, Poco F1, Redmi Note 6 Pro all stand at 5% in the refurbished smartphones data list. Lastly, Redmi 6 Pro is at 4% in the top models refurbished list.
Also read: 2019 Cashify White Paper Summary
Some Interesting Statistics
A plethora of exchange offers played a huge role in Apple’s success in 2020. In collaboration with Cashify, the OEM ran exchange programs for models like iPhone 12, iPhone 11, iPhone XR and iPhone SE. The brand witnessed a 40% increase in the buyback-based transactions in the last quarter. While we look at the statistics of OnePlus in Q1, the smartphone company held a market share of 17% at premium and upper mid-tier range. In Q3, OEM surpassed the mark of 10 lakh shipments, all thanks to the OnePlus Nord series. However, Oppo saw a massive decline in 2020 and could grab only a small chunk of market share in 2020.
While we move to the statistics of Realme, the brand has seen a massive growth in the Indian smartphone market. Its online-centric strategies helped Realme acquire 13% market share just behind Xiaomi, Samsung and Vivo. Along with the online sales, the offline sales of Realme are gradually picking up pace as well.
Samsung, in Q2, rose to second position by acquiring 26% market share with Xiaomi still being on the top. But in Q3, Samsung held 24.2% market share as it toppled Xiaomi in the Indian market. Well, Vivo saw a lot of ups and downs in 2020 because of the Indo-China tension and the postponement of the Indian Premier League which Vivo is a proud sponsor of. However, with 26.9 million shipments, the OEM wrapped up the year at 15% market share. Xiaomi slid down to the second position with 23.2 % market share in Q3. However, by year end, Xiaomi managed to pave its way back to the top of the table with 26% market share.
Interesting Trends and User Behaviour
Second hand phones at the average price of Rs. 4,217 were sold in the year 2020. While smartphones around the age of 3 years were sold the most by the users. On the other hand, people aged between 30-35 years preferred selling their old phones online. When we look at the gender split of people who sold their used smartphones online, there were 80% male users while only 20% female users sold their old phones online.
An interesting fact is that a user decides within the first 15 minutes if the buyback deal is worth investing in or not. While we look at the pace of losing resale value, Samsung Galaxy S series was the fastest to lose its resale value while iPhones were the slowest to lose their resale value. Another fact to look at is the amount of smartphone repairs which are highest in Delhi in the entire country at 35%.
To sum it up, the year 2020 came with a lot of challenges even for the Indian smartphone market. However, the local OEM has re-entered the Indian smartphone market while the competition between the established brands gets tougher.
Also read: Cashify White Paper 2020
Narender Kumar
Always on the quest to learn and share the knowledge. Big fan of books (but not the self help ones) specially fiction. A grammar Nazi who loves to eat, cook, travel and watching thunderstorms.