Stories
Chipmakers Warn of Smartphone Cost Pressures as New Indian Brands Spot Major Opportunity
- •Rising component costs are threatening smartphone affordability and delaying consumer upgrades, according to executives from Qualcomm, MediaTek, and Lava.
- •MediaTek India MD Anku Jain and Qualcomm India President Rajen Vagadia noted that higher prices are altering global consumer behavior, with users holding onto devices longer.
- •Lava International MD Sunil Raina warned that India's smartphone market will remain challenging for the next 12 to 15 months as semiconductor prices put pressure on affordability.
- •New domestic brands like AI+, Mivi, and Boult are eyeing opportunities in the sub-Rs 15,000 market, aiming to challenge established players despite rising costs.
- •Qualcomm and MediaTek are expanding beyond smartphones into data centres, AI PCs, automotive, and cloud computing to drive future growth.
Key Questions Answered
Rising component costs, particularly for memory chips like DRAM and NAND, are driving up prices and threatening upgrade cycles. The global surge in memory chip prices is heavily fueled by immense AI infrastructure and data center demand, creating a supply imbalance that has forced brands to pass costs onto consumers.
New domestic brands like AI+, Mivi, and Boult are sensing a key opportunity in the entry-level and sub-Rs 15,000 smartphone market as established players grapple with high costs. Executives note that artificial intelligence services could serve as an equalizer by shifting consumer focus toward device software and services rather than hardware specs alone.
Industry leaders do not expect chip prices to stabilize over the next year, though price increases may moderate compared to the sharp surges seen previously. Executives note that affordability will remain a key challenge for Indian consumers, with market pressures likely persisting through 2026.
