India’s smart device market gets more expensive as brands cut back on new models

India’s smart device market is getting more expensive, even as brands bring fewer new models to the market.

A Techarc report tracking smartphone, laptop, smart TV and tablet launches in India found that 257 variants were launched between July and September. That was the same as in the previous quarter. But the number of unique models fell to 144 from 153.

In other words, brands are offering more versions of fewer products. Smartphones averaged nearly two variants for every model in the quarter, while smart TVs had 2.35 variants per series.

Entry-level devices take the biggest hit

The shift is most visible in pricing. Launch prices went up across all four categories in Q3, while the number of cheaper devices fell.

Smartphone base-configuration launch prices rose 14% from a year earlier. The number of smartphone variants priced above ₹1 lakh jumped from five in Q2 to 26 in Q3.

Laptops saw a sharper move upmarket. More than half of the variants launched in the quarter, or 53.2%, were priced above ₹1.5 lakh. The median launch price rose 76% year on year.

In televisions, 40.8% of variants were priced above ₹1 lakh. The average tablet launch price rose 54% from a year earlier.

At the other end, the number of affordable launches is shrinking. Seven smartphone models were launched below ₹10,000. TVs priced below ₹30,000 made up just 11.3% of variants, down from 17.9% in Q2. There were no tablets launched below ₹10,000 in the quarter. There had been one in Q2.

“The tension: the shelf is trading up while the conditions behind it point to a narrower buyer base," the report said.

Laptops are a good example of where the market is headed. Almost half of the variants launched in Q3 were gaming or high-performance machines. There were only three variants between ₹50,000 and ₹75,000, compared with 25 above ₹1.5 lakh.

Asus alone accounted for 20 of the 47 laptop variants launched during the quarter. The number of active laptop brands also fell to eight from 13 a year earlier.

AI is also becoming standard in new laptops. Some 76.6% of the variants were Copilot+ certified. Meanwhile, ARM-based laptops accounted for just 4.3% of launches, down from 35.9% in Q2.

Smartphones show a split, while LG dominates TVs

The smartphone numbers need some context. The average launch price rose sharply, but flagship launches were responsible for much of that increase.

There were 126 smartphone variants and 64 unique models in Q3. Excluding flagship models, the average launch price was ₹30,003. The median base-configuration price rose 4% year on year to ₹25,999.

September was particularly expensive because of Apple’s iPhone 18 launches. They pushed the average smartphone launch price for the month to ₹88,020. The median price, however, stayed between ₹31,999 and ₹34,999 during the quarter.

There was also a trade-off in the mid-market. Phones outside the flagship segment came with larger batteries, but some features were cut back. “The mid-market traded display and charging specs for battery,” Techarc said.

The television market had a different story. Launches fell 35% from Q2 to 73 variants, but much of that was because fewer brands launched products during the quarter.

LG accounted for 46 of the 73 variants. Samsung launched just three, compared with 33 in Q2, while Sony had no launches. LG’s activity also pushed OLED’s share of launches to 17.8% from 2.7% in Q2. Its webOS platform accounted for 63% of variants. “Quarter-on-quarter swings now show whose launch event fell in the quarter, not what buyers wanted,” the report said.

Tablets had nine unique models in Q3, the highest in 2026, but only 11 variants were launched. With Apple absent, Android brands accounted for most launches, with 63.6% of variants priced between ₹30,000 and ₹60,000.