India’s Smartphone Users will cross 1 Billion by 2026: Deloitte Reports

According to a recent study made by Deloitte, the number of smartphone users in India has increased in recent years and is expected to grow by 2026. Last year in 2021, the users of mobile phones rose to 1.2 billion. Out of which 750 million people have smartphones. 

As per the reports mentioned in News18 By the year 2026, it is estimated that India’s smartphone user’s population will become 1 billion and the sale of internet enabled mobile phones in rural areas will be driven. In the next five years, India will be the second largest smartphone manufacturer. 

“The smartphone market is expected to reach 1 billion smartphone users by 2026,”The predictions made by Deloitte’s 2022 Global Technology, Media and Entertainment, Telecom about the reach of 1 billion smartphone users by 2026 further adds that this growth will likely raise the rural sector at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) by 6% from the year 2021 to 2026. Whereas, in comparison with the urban sector, it is seeing growth at a CAGR of 2.5%.

“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,” the report read.

The adoption of the internet by people is increasing day by day which is leading to high demand for smartphones. With this rise in demand, the adoption of e-commerce, e-learning, e-health, fintech, etc will also be increased significantly especially in the rural regions of the country. 

Seeing this digital growth in the rural market, it will get a push by the government to fiberize the villages with internet enabled devices. This is expected by the year 2025 with the help of the government’s plan under the BharatNet programme.

The demand for smartphones in India is likely to rise after the launch of 5G. 5G will be the fastest adopted technology because of its diverse applications like remote healthcare, high speed gaming, etc.

Peeyush Vaish, Partner and Telecom Sector Leader, Deloitte India, said “India will have 1 billion smartphone users by 2026. This growth will result in over 75 percent of the subscribers using smartphones by 2026 from a sub- seventy percent as on date. 5G enabled devices will contribute 80 percent 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 US$130 billion. In addition, 5G will fuel an incremental sale of 135 million smartphone units over the next 5 years.”

After the launch of 5G, additional shipments of smartphones are expected to be 135 million (cumulative) by 2026. “The total cumulative shipments of smartphones in the country are expected to reach 1.7 billion over 2022-2026, creating a market of about USD 250 billion, of which, nearly 840 million 5G devices are expected to be sold in a span of five years,” the reports mentioned.