Festive smartphone sales face steepest decline in decade in wake of memory chip crisis

IDC forecasts a 25% drop in smartphone sales in India from July to September, to 36 million units from 48 million a year earlier, the worst result since 2016. The cause is a global memory shortage: affordable models rose in price by nearly 40%, and Apple raised iPhone 17 prices by 20% to ₹99,900.

• Sales in July–September will fall to 36 million units from 48 million a year earlier
• Smartphones under ₹15,000 rose in price by nearly 40% due to memory
• Apple raised iPhone 17 price by 20% to ₹99,900
• Annual sales may fall to 124 million units