India’s smartphone market posted solid gains in Q3 2025, with Apple registering record shipments and moving into fourth place for the first time, data from IDC showed.

The research outfit highlighted strong demand for entry-level as well as premium models, which spurred a 13.7 per cent increase in ASPs to $294. Shipments rose 4.3 per cent year-on-year to 48 million units.

Models in the $600 to $800 segment grew 43.3 per cent and accounted for 6 per cent of total shipments, up from 4 per cent a year earlier. Entry-level models, priced below $100, recorded 35.3 per cent growth and made up 16 per cent of the market. The $100 to $200 segment, however, declined 8.8 per cent, with its share dropping to 40 per cent from 45 per cent a year earlier.

Apple led with 25.6 per cent growth, shipping 5 million units as its share increased to 10.4 per cent from 8.6 per cent in Q3 2024, when it was in sixth place.

Vivo recorded 20.7 per cent growth, boosting its share by 2.5 per percentage points to 18.3 per cent. It maintained top spot.

Oppo and Samsung held their second and third positions, respectively, with 4.2 per cent and 6.3 per cent growth.

Realme dropped to fifth from fourth after shipping 10.9 per cent fewer units.

With demand focused on the premium market, Upasana Joshi, senior research manager for devices research at IDC Asia Pacific, noted the mass market is under pressure, resulting in a significant inventory build-up.

“This surplus has been further exacerbated by rising component costs, particularly in memory and currency fluctuations, prompting brands to raise prices,” Joshi added.

IDC forecasts a decline in shipments in Q4, leading to an overall annual drop, with shipments expected to fall below 150 million units.