India Will Have 100 Crore Smartphone Users By 2026; Rural India Will Have 140% More Growth Compared To Urban India

With the growing demand of internet-enabled phones, a study published by Deloitte states that India will have 1 billion people using smartphones by 2026, a figure led by a spike in rural demand.

In 2021, there were 1.2 billion mobile users in India, of which 750 million people used smartphones, states the Deloitte’s 2022 Global TMT (Technology, Media and Entertainment, Telecom) study.

Over the next five years, India will become the world’s second-largest smartphone manufacturer, states the Deloitte study.

“Higher internet adoption is expected to fuel demand for smartphones; this increased demand will be propelled by the need to adopt fintech, e-health, and e-learning,” added the study.

Deloitte Report on India’s Smartphone Usage Pattern by 2026

• By 2026, about 95% of replacements in the urban market will be towards buying new smartphones, with the current figure being at 75%.
• For the urban market, 25% replacements are made towards the already-owned phones. This figure is expected to reduce to only 5% by 2026.
• India’s smartphone user market growth prediction of 1 billion by 2026 is expected to propel by the rural sector at a compound annual growth rate or CAGR of 6%.
• The urban sector is expected to grow at a CAGR of 2.5% from 2021 to 2026.
• The study predicts that the high demand expectations are likely to take charge after 5G services are launched in India.
• Once this happens, 5G phones will alone contribute to 80% of the devices by 2026, which amounts to approximately 310 million units.

“The total cumulative shipments of smartphones in the country are expected to reach 1.7 billion over 2022-2026, creating a market of about $250 billion, of which, nearly 840 million 5G devices are expected to be sold in a span of five years”, added the study.

“5G-enabled devices will contribute 80% to the devices being sold in the year 2026 and Indian consumers will purchase 840 million 5G smartphones over the next 5 years valued at $130 billion. In addition, 5G will fuel an incremental sale of 135 million smartphone units over the next 5 years”, added Peeyush Vaish, Partner and Telecom Sector Leader, Deloitte India.