iPhone 17 Leads Vivo, Oppo In Phone Sales

Its price is high, starting from more than Rs 82,900, putting it in the super-premium category of phones.

But Apple Inc's iPhone 17 (including all its memory variants), launched in September last year, became, in January-March 2026, the highest-selling phone in the country in volumes, grabbing more than a 4 per cent share in the market, according to the data given by Counterpoint Research.

That is not all. Despite being launched nearly two years ago, iPhone 16, the older war horse from Apple Inc, continues to be on the list of the top 10, at sixth position, with a 2 per share share in the market.

In contrast, all the other phone models in the top five are in the budget category, with a price range from more than Rs 16,000 and going up to almost 24,000.  

These include a model from Chinese firm Oppo. It is the A6x 5G, whose market share is a few basis points below that of iPhone 17.

It is followed by three models from the Vivo stable. They are Vivo 19S 5G with a 3 per cent market share, followed by Vivo Y31 5G, also with 3 per cent plus, and Vivo Y31 Pro 5G with over 2 per cent, a few basis points above that of iPhone 16.

"Apple topped the charts with the highest shipped model in Q12026, supported by strong volumes and a focused lean-portfolio strategy," says Shubham Singh, analyst with Counterpoint Research.

"Vivo placed three models among the top five, driven by its strong presence in the budget segment and strong and solid on ground channel execution."

On Oppo being in the top five, Singh said this had been possible because of its extensive offline reach and the competitive positioning of the A6x 5g in the affordable 5G segment.

The other reason for Apple's increase in volumes is that iPhone's prices have remained stable despite the huge increase in the costs of the global memory used in the device.

Apple has been able to do so because of long-term price contracts it has with chip manufacturers as well as its ability to absorb costs. The company has expanded the Indian market by pushing the phone through long-term offers of equated monthly instalments, making the upfront acquisition cost lower.

In contrast, most other mobile makers have had to pass on the increase in memory costs to consumers, leading to a sharp increase of 15 to 20 per cent in their model price, going even up to 30 per cent in some cases. This has dented sales.

Even at global level, according to Counterpoint Research, iPhones have dominated the charts in Q1 CY2026. iPhone 17, with a share of 7 per cent in volumes, is the highest among the top 10.

There are another three Apple models on the list. They include iPhone 17 Pro Max at second place, iPhone 17 Pro at third, and iPhone 16 at sixth.    

-- Surajeet Das Gupta, Business Standard