Over the past year, the Indian smartphone market has taken a significant hit as numerous manufacturers—including Samsung, OnePlus, vivo, iQOO, OPPO, realme, and Apple—raised their prices. A recent report by market analysis firm Counterpoint Research details the impact of these persistent price hikes on the Indian smartphone market during the first half of the year. The report reveals that smartphone manufacturers raised prices by an average of 16% during this period. OnePlus, however, bucked the trend, with price increases significantly lower than those of its competitors. The company also emerged as the fastest-growing brand in the online segment, achieving notable quarter-over-quarter growth in shipment volumes.
OnePlus saw an average price increase of 8% for its smartphones in the first half of the year.
Counterpoint Research’s latest market report indicates that average smartphone prices in India rose by 16% during the first half of the year. In contrast, OnePlus saw an average price increase of just 8%—half the industry average. Nevertheless, in the second quarter, OnePlus emerged as the fastest-growing brand among the top five smartphone brands in the sub-₹20,000 online retail segment.
However, it is worth noting that this report is based on findings from a white paper co-authored by a market research firm and OnePlus. Nevertheless, it does reflect how the Indian smartphone market as a whole is being affected by sustained price increases. Counterpoint Research predicts that the ongoing shortages of memory and storage—which have driven up the prices of DRAM and NAND flash memory—are unlikely to ease before 2028.
The report indicates that the average price of mobile phones priced below ₹10,000 rose by 29%. This price segment was the most heavily affected by price hikes in the Indian market during the first half of 2026. In contrast, phones priced below ₹45,000 saw the least impact, with an average increase of only 9% over the same period. Additionally, the report notes that more than 380 smartphone models in India have recently been affected by price increases.
In the first half of 2026, price increases in the Indian smartphone market ranged from a high of 113% to a low of 2%. The report observes that “price fluctuations are evident not only in average figures but also at the extremes.” These significant and sustained price hikes also led to a 65% year-on-year decline in the market for smartphones priced below ₹10,000 in India.
Meanwhile, shipments of smartphones priced between 10,000 and 20,000 rupees fell by 20% year-on-year in the first half of 2026—a segment Counterpoint Research describes as “historically one of the largest in the market.” In contrast, smartphones priced above 20,000 rupees were relatively less affected and actually saw growth; this appears to be driven by incentives such as “trade-in offers and interest-free installment plans,” which made higher-priced models more accessible to consumers.