From the perspective of speed, India ran a slow marathon with 4G, while with 5G, it looks like the country is sprinting. The rollout is happening at a rapid pace, all thanks to Jio and Airtel, the two leading Indian telecom operators. However, it is not just Airtel and Jio, but also the smartphone makers and vendors. The telcos are betting on 5G because they are getting support from the tech ecosystem. Smartphone companies in India are bringing more and more affordable 5G phones to the masses.
Chinese smartphone makers as well as Samsung are trying to flood the Indian market with super affordable 5G smartphones. According to Ericsson, by 2029, India will have about as many 5G subscriptions as there are 4G subscriptions in 2023. The cost of 5G chips will come down slowly as the supply chain optimises. Further, the local production of 5G smartphones will also help in flooding the market with 5G phones.
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Many large OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) are already manufacturing/assembling their smartphones within India because of the mobile PLI (production-linked incentive) scheme. By the end of 2023, the total 5G subscriptions will reach about 130 million in India, said Ericsson in its latest consumer mobility report.
The fact that the telcos are offering free 5G to customers with all mobile plans that cost Rs 239 or more is a good incentive for the customers to upgrade to a 5G phone sooner rather than later. Earlier, Ericsson had estimated that the growth of 4G would start slowing down by 2024. But this would only happen if more people upgraded to a 5G phone in 2024.
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The device refresh cycle with super affordable phones is two to three years for many. Thus, users who bought an affordable phone in 2020 or 2021 would look to upgrade in 2024. This will be an opportunity for OEMs to inject more super-affordable devices into the Indian market in 2024 and capture a larger market share.
Even the Indian telecom operators are offering 4G/5G phones to customers with subsidies and cashback programs. Reliance Jio is also said to be working on an affordable 5G smartphone. It would also play the role of catalyst to boost the presence of 5G in India.
