Smartphone brands line up launches across price bands

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Smartphone brands such as Samsung, Motorola, OnePlus, Oppo and iQOO have lined up a series of launches across price ranges coinciding with the upcoming ecommerce sales. Industry executives and analysts see the launches as a bid to capture an expected increase in demand during the promotional periods, as well as gather momentum in the lead up to the festive season that starts in August and has assumed increased criticality amid tepid overall demand. As many as eight brands are launching their devices in the next two weeks with online sales set to start from the middle of the month. “There will be some amount of pent-up demand this year, because not a lot of people upgraded their smartphones in the last two years due to macroeconomic headwinds, and lack of 5G networks,” Counterpoint Research director Tarun Pathak said. Counterpoint has observed a change in consumer behaviour where the demand is now concentrated around promotional periods. One in every two consumers is waiting for these promotional events as chances are high that they get a better value for their money, Pathak said.

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Also, anticipating higher upgrade numbers, brands have started their preparations for the festive season a bit early. Last year, a lot of the refreshes happened in August, but this year, the brands are starting their launch season in July itself to capture demand from the multiple festive season sales, he added. Pathak said the second half of the year contributes roughly 60-62% to the annual sales, and this year’s festive season will be crucial for the brands since most consumers who purchased devices during the pandemic will be up for an upgrade. “Earlier, the aggressive online