The smartphones sales are likely to cross 100 million units in the second half of 2024, estimated research firm Techarc on Saturday (August 10, 2024). If it happens, the total annual sales of smartphones for the entire year will be around 155-158 million, between 7 to 9% increase over previous year.

Nearly 80% of the smartphones expected to sell between July to December 2024 will be 5G smartphones.

AI and CMF (colour, material, finish) innovations are emerging to be the two key differentiators for the smartphone offerings during the period.

These innovations are also likely to further widen the replacement cycles as AI will lead to continuous improvement at the software level bringing new features and use-cases for the consumers without any hardware replacement need.

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Among the form-factors, foldables and flip will gain confidence of consumers and moves from an ‘intriguing’ form-factor to an ‘interesting’ form-factor.

Techarc estimates the sales push during the festive period should help cross 1 million foldable smartphone sales for the year 2024.

Online will continue to have edge during festive seasons by 3-5% points due to offers and deals along with convenience. It is likely to contribute more than 55% of the total sales during H2.

The cumulative market share of Samsung, Redmi, Realme, Vivo, Oppo, Apple and OnePlus are likely to go down to 63-67% in 2H 2024 from 68-73% in the quarter.

The brands benefitting out of this transition include Motorola, Poco, iQOO, Nothing, CMF, Honor and Lava.