Market Watch: Smartphones above Rs 20,000

The upper mid-range smartphone segment is always buzzing since it’s here that you’ll find some of the most value for money offerings as well as older, high-end handsets that have now dropped in price. Let’s take a look at what’s hot and what’s not in smartphones above Rs. 20,000.

What’s hot
Two of the hottest selling handsets as of this month have been Apple’s iPhone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy Note II. These two phones have been selling like hot cakes from the time they launched and continue to be in high demand. This comes as no surprise since any new iPhone that’s announced, automatically sells well. The Note II, despite its ungainly size, proved to be a huge success as it improves upon the already popular Galaxy Note. You kind of get used to the large size after a while and since it’s still one of the best handsets out there, no wonder it’s so popular. 

The Samsung Galaxy S III also saw very good sales since it launched. It dipped a little once the iPhone 5 launched, but continues to steadily move off the shelves. Looking at the grey market, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus continues to be in high demand since it offers tremendous value at that price. The rate fluctuates between Rs. 20,000 and Rs. 22,000, but people continue to buy it because of the promise of frequent and timely updates. HTC handsets seem to be selling pretty well too, right from the Desire SV to the One X+. Dealers have also been getting a lot of enquires about the BalackBerry Z10, so we expect it to move in high volumes as soon as it’s launched. The Galaxy Grand Duos has been the top selling phone last week for many dealers in Mumbai and will continue to do well. The low resolution screen doesn’t seem to bother many, apparently, as the other strong multimedia features make up for its shortcomings.

What’s not
The recently launched HTC Butterfly didn’t take off too high primarily due to its high price. When you price your flagship the same as Apple’s offering, what else do you expect? The Nokia Lumia 920, on the other hand, is selling just about ok. We feel this is once again due to the high price of the handset. While it’s one thing to have a great camera, it’s still a smartphone at the end of the day and we feel the lack of apps for WP8 may still be a put off for many. Surprisingly, there doesn’t seem to be a huge demand for the Xperia Z, but that should change soon once the handset hits the grey market. Sony’s Xperia ion and the Xperia P also seem to be moving off the shelves very slowly. The problem with the ion is that it’s not too different from the Xperia S and since the latter has dropped drastically in price, the premium for the ion doesn’t seem to be worth paying. The Xperia P is competing with the Galaxy Nexus and the recently launched Galaxy Grand and when you compare the features and price, it’s a tough sell.

Unsurprisingly, there isn’t much demand for the Nokia Lumia 820. Nokia itself didn’t seem to give it much attention when it announced the new Lumia series; the announcement of the 820 seemed rushed. No wonder it isn’t receiving much love in terms of sales as well. The BlackBerry 9790 and the 9900 are almost dead now, but that’s fine, as the Z10 will soon take centre stage once it goes on sale tomorrow for Rs. 43,000.  

We’ll be bringing you a breakdown of the budget smartphone segment as well, but for now, here’s a list of smartphones above Rs. 20,000. The phones highlighted in red are the hot sellers for the month of February.

High-end mobiles being sold in the market

Disclaimer: The details mentioned herein are based on the information provided by local dealers and our market sources in Mumbai city, and reflect the rates applicable at the time this article was published. The views expressed in the article in no way reflect the official sales records of the respective companies.