The rising prices of memory and chipset are reducing the margins of manufacturers, due to which the prices of smartphones are increasing. Realme, Oppo, Vivo, Samsung and OnePlus have increased the prices of some specific models. This price increase comes at a difficult time for the market, as customers are becoming more cautious about spending. According to Counterpoint Research's 'India Weekly Smartphone Sell-out Tracker', sales between April and July 2026 were much lower than last year, and big online sales also provided little respite.
Price increase of Realme, Oppo, Vivo, Samsung and OnePlus
Reports suggest that Realme has increased the prices of several models by ₹1,000 to ₹4,000 from August 18. Oppo has increased the prices of some Reno and A-series phones by up to ₹5,000, while Vivo has increased the prices of individual models by ₹500 to ₹4,000 in some regions. Samsung has increased the prices of certain S-series, M-series and F-series phones; One variant of Galaxy S25 has now become costlier by ₹ 12,000. OnePlus has increased the prices of some smartphones by ₹2,000 to ₹4,000. A OnePlus India spokesperson told TOI that the recent increase reflects rising cost pressures across the industry, especially the rising cost of memory.
Upasana Joshi, senior research manager, device research at IDC Asia Pacific, said the average price of a smartphone was expected to increase by about 15% by the end of the second quarter of 2026 due to rising memory costs. Smartphone prices are expected to rise by another 7-10% in the coming months due to the continued rise in memory and component costs.
Shubham Singh, analyst at Counterpoint Research, said price hikes are becoming inevitable as smartphone manufacturers are passing on the increased costs to customers. New phones are also being launched at higher prices. Joshi said EMI and financing options can help customers mitigate the impact of high smartphone prices.
**Customers waiting for discount**
Higher prices are already impacting purchasing behaviour. Counterpoint reported that smartphone sales between April and July were much lower than last year. There was a slight increase in sales during Amazon Prime Day and Flipkart's GOAT sale in July, but after the promotion ended, it declined for three consecutive weeks. Only two weeks saw year-over-year increases during this period, and in both cases this was due to large sales events.
Prachir Singh, senior analyst at Counterpoint Research, observed that due to rising prices, customers are now becoming more price conscious and more dependent on promotional offers. Between April and July 2026, prices of the affected models have increased by an average of ₹3,200.
**May provide some relief from festive sale**
Counterpoint expects smartphone demand to increase gradually ahead of the festive season as brands look to offer discounts, financing schemes and launch new products. However, affordability will remain a major challenge. Research director Tarun Pathak expects the Indian smartphone market to decline by about 13% year-on-year in 2026; However, performance may improve in the second half of the year as festive demand will encourage customers to upgrade from older phones to new ones.
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