10 smartphone brands that matter in 2023

Before 2022, the market was looking very skewed where over 75% of the market share was held by a few brands and it was appearing that these brands are going to further consolidate their market standing making it difficult for others to remain in the business.  There were only 7 brands which really mattered in the industry.  These were Apple, OnePlus, OPPO, Realme, Redmi, Samsung and Vivo (ordered alphabetically). 

However, things have changed a lot in 2022.  There have been some brands which are witnessing a downside due to internal as well as external factors.  At the same time, a few brands have worked to their strengths and seen an upward tide.

In 2023, there are 10 brands which will matter for the smartphone industry in India.  These brands not only will trigger changes in terms of products and the ambience around them, but also define the future course of the smartphone market in India.  These brands ordered alphabetically are Apple, Lava, Motorola, OnePlus, OPPO, Realme, Redmi, Samsung, Tecno and Vivo.  These brands to watch out for in 2023 are expected to earn a cumulative market share of over 75% by volumes. 

Not just the 5G adoption in the country, but other emerging trends in the smartphone industry like foldable form factor, deeper integration of AI, innovation in camera, battery and design, and development of business ambience including sale and servicing will see interventions primarily from these brands which will become industry norms.

In our recently announced ‘The conscious cohorts of smartphone buyers in India’, report, we identified the 5 main user cohorts in India for smartphones.  These are brand conscious, quality conscious, trust conscious, value conscious and price conscious user cohorts. Today, we map them with the brands to understand which cohorts are buying different brands.  This mapping gives us a fair understanding of the motivation of consumers behind going for these brands. 

In the above graph we have colour mapped the brands with the user cohort indicating the motivation of users behind choosing these particular brands. The darker shade shows a strong correlation between the user cohort and the brand. 

Barring Apple, Samsung and OnePlus, all other brands in the 10 that matter attract users from value and price conscious cohorts.  This has to change for the other 7 brands to stay longer and enjoy a significant market share.  Though the majority of the market is still driven by the enabler cohorts, the market is gradually shifting in favour of the experiential cohorts.  For this it is imperative that the OEMs work on building trust, delivering quality and establishing a brand.  With brand it becomes easy to package and recognise quality and trust defining experience.

APPLE – Apple continues to be the most aspirational brand when it comes to smartphones.  Its importance will continue in 2023 as well especially when more and more buyers are looking for premium smartphones.

LAVA – With Agni and Blaze series’, Lava has proven its mettle and made an entry to the list of brands that matter in 2023.  While it still continues to be an enabler brand, its journey towards becoming an experiential brand, especially through Agni series has taken off.

MOTOROLA – After roller coaster ride of several years, the brand is now up with its cleaner portfolio making no ambiguities for consumers.  Its confusion between Lenovo and Moto portfolio is a past thing now and we see very demarcated portfolio of Motorola for different consumer segments.  This positioning makes it another brand to watch out for in 2023.

ONEPLUS – It’s a pioneer brand when it comes to premium in Android.  Its importance for young techies who want the freedom of DIY with all their gadgets is its strength.  OnePlus will continue to play its role in the premium segment.  Also, its success of Nord series, which is among very few series’ having seen success of this sort, adds to its role in the market.

OPPO – Oppo is the 2^nd brand to have commercially made available a fold form factor smartphone in the market.  Its strong R&D credentials help it to be seen as an innovative brand. With the addition of its flip smartphone, its position as a design driven OEM has strengthened.  The brand also enjoys strong reputation in the offline market.  All these factors make it in the brands that matter list for 2023.

REALME – Realme has seen a significant drop in its market standing.  This is because of it being a ‘copycat’ brand of Redmi.  So whatever impacted Redmi, also impacted Realme.  However, the brand is not in a give up mood. It has recently roped in Shah Rukh Khan as the brand ambassador and its working on other elements too that could help it regain the market a little bit.  It continues to be a brand that matters in 2023.  However, the steps it has taken might show results only in 1^st half of 2024. 

REDMI – Redmi has been one of the most important enabler brands of smartphones in India, especially 4G.  The external factors as well as some internal issues have impacted its market standing at the moment.  However, in the past few months, the brand has gone very aggressive in addressing most of the factors that matter.  For instance, building a strong relationship with the offline market.  Redmi should see things getting better by the festive period time in 2023 and play its important role in the market.  It continues to be an important brand in 2023 as well.

SAMSUNG – Samsung, though being one of the oldest brands is all up with the energy of a startup.  After the leadership reigns came in hands of the next generation a few years ago, the brand looks now very energetic in all aspects which is having a positive bearing on its market performance.  For 2023, it will continue to have the leadership position both in value and volume terms owing to strong portfolio across segments backed by very successful enablers including its financing scheme.

TECNO – This is a new entrant brand from the house of Transsion holdings in the list of 10 brands that matter in 2023.  The brand has gone aggressive on all fronts that includes new products, marketing, and entry into different market segments.  Tecno’s market reputation is gaining, and it should reap its benefits starting 2023.  While it continues to be a key enabler brand, its presence in experiential zone is intriguing.

VIVO – Vivo is one of the brands that has exhibited very stable outlook in the very dynamic market of smartphones.  It will continue to play its role in the market in 2023 as well and be among the 10 brands that matter.  However, it will have to now look at overall proposition than overemphasizing on the camera which has become its strength.  The brand also enjoys strong offline reputation which it will continue to capitalize in 2023.

These 10 brands are primarily grouped as enabler and experiential brands.  However, as the smartphone users in India continue to mature as their understanding about the device keeps on getting better, the brands will have to eventually focus more on experience for which they need to quickly drift away from the specifications and hardware emphasis.  The brands will have to have equal focus on the product as well as the other attributes that wrap around it defining the overall experience.  This is why the focus should also be around building trust, exhibiting quality and creating a brand.  In 2023 these become the priority areas for the smartphone OEMs for long term as well as short term gains.