2020

VOL. 4 | ISSUE 1

THE GAMECHANGER’S
GUIDE TO RE-COMMERCE
An inside look at the second-hand smartphone market in India
Table of
Contents

Founders’ Say 01
Introduction 02
Indian Recommerce in 2019 04
India’s Favourite Smartphone
Brands 08
Apple 08 OnePlus 10

Oppo 12 Realme 14

Samsung 16 Vivo 18

Xiaomi 20

Phonatics: Second-hand Smartphone

Market Findings in 2019 22
Founders’ Say
Mandeep Manocha
Co-founder & CEO, Cashify

Design innovations ruled the market in 2019. Be it

full-screen displays or the triple and quad camera
handsets, we saw some stunning launches this year, and
more reasons to upgrade. As always, Cashify aimed to
provide users an easy solution for putting used
smartphones to a profitable use. Let's look at some
insights from last year’s market and how re-commerce
made a difference in the industry.

Nakul Kumar
Co-founder & COO, Cashify

Last year was thrilling. Cashify became an omnichannel

brand and a one-stop shop for all smartphone services.
We took Cashify, an online brand, to local markets with
our official Cashify Stores across cities. While we offer
all-round mobile care, buyback continues to be the focus.
Take a look at what our market study revealed about
major OEMs, smartphone users and, of course, mobile
re-commerce in 2019.

Amit Sethi
Co-founder & CTO, Cashify

Innovation remained a key factor in determining our way

ahead in 2019. We penetrated new domains of services &
products like mobile repair, refurbished smartphones,
mobile accessories and partner-based apps with major
OEMs. This year, we’re looking to bring more to the table
using recent market trends and behaviours. The
interesting figures and patterns we witnessed in 2019 are
presented in this white paper.

01
Introduction
Remember when the life expectancy of a
device was almost similar to a PC or a
television? As India rapidly moves towards
clocking a total of 859 million smartphone
users in 2022 (according to Business
Standard), the average smartphone life cycle
is dropping with every new launch. With
19% users upgrading their devices within
the first year & 44% within 1-2 years, the
shortening life span of mobile devices has
not been more pronounced.

Smartphone penetration has never been

greater in India. Boasting of a whopping 345
million smartphone users, the country has displayed immense progress in tech adaptability.
Despite the slowing economy with 5% quarterly growth, lowest in 6 years, the 2019 Q2
smartphone shipment in India was estimated around 36.9 million units, a 9.9%
year-over-year growth & 14.8% quarter-over-quarter growth. Major reasons for upgrade for
most smartphone users have been connectivity (3G to 4G), gaming capacity, updates in
mobile photography and so on.

With 19% users upgrading their devices within the first year & 44% within
1-2 years, the shortening life span of mobile devices has not been more
pronounced.

QUARTERLY SMARTPHONE SHIPMENT IN INDIA (IN MILLION)

46.6

36.9

32.2 30

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

02
The aspirational value of every new smartphone in circulation, makes its predecessor as
less desired. Despite them working fine, 20% users reported to have left their
smartphones unused in their drawers. The
stowed away devices stop us from reusing Despite working fine, 20% users
potentially working tech. Be it for the lack reported to have left their
of safety, simplicity, monetary gains or
smartphones unused in their
other factors, smartphone hoarders are
drawers.
naysaying to selling their used
smartphones.

Taking these potential e-waste off the users’ hands at minimum hassle and maximum
monetary returns & safety becomes a mandatory move for tech stakeholders.
Recommerce uses technology to ease out the selling process so that the stashed devices
can make their way back into the market at more affordable prices, offering the same
experience they used to.

For users, buying a smartphone is just the tip of the iceberg. Maintaining them properly
with timely repair, accessorizing and updating are crucial to take every mobile phone to
its optimal value. The pain point here is the unavailability of a viable platform that helps
users with all these solutions.

This white paper uses well-researched data and insights to decode the Indian smartphone
market from the recommerce point of view. From OEM performance in both retail & resale
market to user behaviour, a variety of details have been captured here for industry
stakeholders and aficionados.
Research Methodology: Data presented here has been derived from independent surveys conducted with a leading
research partner. External sources include International Data Corporation, Counterpoint Research, newspaper articles etc.

03
Indian Recommerce
in 2019
The Inside Story

Numerous launches, more brand options, new price points and the overall aspirational
value of an upgrade, are a few factors that led the second-hand smartphone industry to
widen its turf in 2019. Be it selling or buying, a majority of Indian smartphone users have
shed their inhibitions about pre-owned smartphones. With more people opening up to
selling and buying used handsets, the recommerce industry has seen a definite surge in
2019; so much so that Counterpoint declared India as the fastest growing market for
refurbished mobile phones.

Dominating in the entry level and sub-J10000 bracket, refurbished handsets exhibited a 9
percent Y-o-Y growth in the first half of 2019, according to Counterpoint. From 14 million
shipments in 2018-19, refurbished handsets are expected to grow by 20-25 percent by
2020. The entire pre-owned smartphone market, on the other hand, is expected to almost
double its sales to 48 million in 2020 from 26 million in 2016.

Speaking of the Great Sale Indian

smartphone market, the festive season During said months, the refurbished
(September-October) was when handset market grew at 15 percent
refurbished handset sales had a field day month-over-month. Buyback schemes
in the market every day. held in the e-commerce marketplace
were availed by 10X more customers
than usual.

We’ve noticed a tide of Nokia and Tecno smartphone resale, since they were recently
listed on Cashify, making them two of the most promising smartphone brands in the
second-hand market for the upcoming year.

04
The section to follow reveals some of the key insights and pieces of information we drew
about the Indian second-hand smartphone market- trends, user behaviour, top-selling
cities and more.

SECOND-HAND SMARTPHONE SALES BY USERS

Others 16%
27%

4%

4%

5%

12% 16%

16%

TOP-SELLING MODELS

Redmi Apple Apple

Note 4 iPhone 6 iPhone 6S
4.79% 4.58% 3.34%

Xiaomi Samsung Samsung

Redmi 4 Galaxy J2 Galaxy J7
2.67% 1.30% 1.26%

*Data derived from total buyback transactions on Cashify in 2019

05
TOP-SELLING CITIES

New Delhi
18%
Others
25%

Bengaluru
13%
Noida
4%
Pune
5%
Mumbai
Kolkata 12%
5%
Chennai
5% 7%
6%
Gurugram
Hyderabad

TOP UP-AND-COMING CITIES

3% 2% 2% 1%

3% 2% 1%
Ghaziabad Thane Ahmedabad Surat

Faridabad Lucknow Chandigarh

Data derived from total buyback transactions on Cashify in 2019

06
 TRUTH INDEX FROM TOP-SELLING CITIES
Smartphone users in a city who mentioned the actual condition of
their devices while putting them up for sale online

23% 24% 36%

77% 76% 64%
New Delhi Gurugram Bengaluru

28% 24%
72% 76%
Chennai Kolkata

Users mentioning actual device condition Users mentioning device condition inaccurately

BRAND WISE PRICE TREND HISTORY

How major devices from smartphone brands shed their resale value with age

3-4 Months <12 Months >24 Months <36 Months

70%
37%
28%
19%

67%
37%
27%
16%
AVERAGE % BRAND LEVEL

66%
36%
21%
16%

62%
41% 35%
28%

57%
30% 23% 18%

56%
32% 20% 17%

*Data revealed by smartphone selling pattern by users in the resale market

07
India’s Favourite
Smartphone Brands
Apple: A Little Tweak Can Fix the Weak

When the pricing is weak, it’s

good to tweak. No one would
vouch for it more than Apple.
After staying out of the charts
for about 2 years, Apple made
a comeback this year with 51.3
LLLL percent market share in the
J35,000+ smartphones
PRICING
METER

segment in the Q3 of 2019, as

reported by International Data
Corporation.

It was already rough sailing for the Cupertian tech giant when its iPhone XR, priced at
J76,900, was released in September, 2018.
Cut to Q2 2019, Apple makes it to the top Perhaps better acclimatization with the
of the premium smartphone segment with Indian price-sensitive market led the
42.2 percent market share for skyrocketing brand to reprice the device at J53,000
sales of the iPhone XR.
in April 2019.

September 2019, we see three more launches by the OEM, starting at J64,900. The iPhone
11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max were the mega launches for the brand this year.
While the iPhone 11 has been very well-received by premium users, the iPhone XR
hangover still goes on strong in the market. In terms of user demographic, 71 percent
iPhone users are male.

14 percent users reside in Bengaluru, which

iPhones are most favoured by females is followed by 13 percent in New Delhi and
as they have 29 percent women users, 10 percent in Mumbai. The age group of
higher than other major brands. 25-34 years has the highest recorded
number of iPhone users with 65 percent.

08
Recent developments indicate that the brand is also eyeing the native manufacturing
market in India. Local manufacturing of devices are expected to rid the makers of the 30%
import duty that results in higher Apple prices so far.

Looking at the second-hand scene, the response to iPhones is going on strong. 16.49
percent of total used devices sold by smartphone users in 2019 were iPhones, making
Apple the second most resold brand of the year. Of which 20 percent, the largest number
of pre-owned iPhone sales, took place in New Delhi. Mumbaikars came in second with a
sales share of almost 11 percent. iPhone 6 was sold the most by its users, contributing
about 28 percent of the total iPhones sold in the pre-owned market.

Top-selling Second-hand Apple Smartphones

Apple Apple
iPhone 6 iPhone 6S
28% 20%

Apple Apple
iPhone 7 iPhone 5S
17% 11%

Apple iPhone SE, iPhone X, iPhone 6

Plus, iPhone 6S Plus, iPhone 8
iPhone 7 Plus
19%
etc.

5%

09
OnePlus: Flagship Killer to Flagship Dealer

5 years down the lane since its arrival in India, much has changed for OnePlus. Although
its 2015 offering, OnePlus 2, boasted outright of being a “2016 Flagship Killer”, the 2019
offerings seem more to be along the lines of being flagship smartphones themselves.

Competitive pricing, aggressive discounts, multiple launches and a massive community

were all behind OnePlus’ 66 percent year-over-year shipment growth in 2019. The
Counterpoint study also reveals the OEM has devoured the top market share in
smartphones worth J30,000+ segment this year.

Attributable to the May launches OnePlus

Occupying the largest chunk of market
7 and OnePlus 7 Pro, the brand has rapidly
in the J30,000+ segment, OnePlus
made a mark for itself in the flagship
clocked up a whopping 35% market
category, contending with the iPhone XRs
share by the end of Q3 2019.
& Samsung S10s of the world.

The top user base of OnePlus is based out of Bengaluru as 15 percent users are from
the city.

Mumbai comes next with 12 percent and New Delhi is the third with 11 percent. 74
percent of users are male and 65 percent are within the age group of 25-34 years.

Come October, we saw two more releases- the OnePlus 7T and OnePlus 7T Pro. With two
more handsets that fall more and more into the flagship segment, things are certainly
changing for the smartphone maker.

10
In the pre-owned handsets market, only 4.23 percent users sold their old OnePlus
smartphones in 2019, a nominal change from 3.24 percent in 2018. The national capital
topped here again with a contribution of nearly 20 percent into the total OnePlus sale of
pre-owned devices. Bangalore ranked second with a share of about 16 percent.
Additionally, 19 percent of total pre-owned OnePlus devices sold by users were OnePlus 5,
the most resold OnePlus handset of 2019.

After the sweeping success in the premium segment, it didn’t come as a huge surprise
that the OEM increased its prices by 96 percent in the flagship segment.

Top-selling Second-hand OnePlus Smartphones

OnePlus 5 OnePlus 3T
19% 17%

OnePlus 5T OnePlus 6
16% 11%

OnePlus 2, OnePlus 6T, OnePlus

OnePlus 3 One, OnePlus X, OnePlus 7 etc.

9% 28%

11
Oppo: Opportunity missed or gained?

While its parent corporation, BBK Electronics which also owns Vivo, Realme and OnePlus,
acquired an enormous 42 percent of Indian smartphone market in 2019, Oppo has not
had much luck this year. According to a Counterpoint research, Oppo managed to cinch
only 8 percent market share in Q3 2019. On the other hand, IDC reports 11.8 percent
market share for Oppo by the end of the same quarter in India.

The Chinese OEM has claimed a

Although a tad overshadowed by its year-on-year growth of 92% in Q3 2019.
own sister brands Vivo and Realme, The next big thing on the plate for the
Oppo names India as its second biggest brand is pioneering 5G smartphones in
market after China. India, after having taken a lead in China
for said innovation.

From handsets ranging from mid-budget like the Oppo A series to premium segment like
the Reno series, Oppo is available across the board. The refreshed versions of the Oppo A5
and A9, the Oppo A9 2020 and Oppo A5 2020 were the highlights from the brand in the
mid-tier segment in 2019. Likewise, the Reno series, its offering in the premium segment,
stirred only lukewarm response in users.

12
Compared to 2018, about 1 percent more users sold their pre-owned Oppo smartphones,
bringing its resale market share to 4.2 percent in 2019 from 3.4 percent the previous year.
About 16 percent of the sellers were Delhiites, followed by Mumbaikars with a contribution
of nearly 12 percent. Notably, the Oppo F1s handsets outnumbered other Oppo devices
with a share of 26 percent in resale market. The Oppo A57 came in next with 19 percent
share. When it comes to pricing, Oppo, just like its sister-brand Vivo, has maintained a 50
percent price hike in the last 4 years.

Top-selling Second-hand Oppo Smartphones

Oppo Oppo
F1S A57
26% 19%

Oppo Oppo
A37F F3
16% 11%

Oppo Oppo Neo 7, Oppo F7, Oppo A83,

Oppo F5, Oppo F1 etc.
F9 Pro
9% 19%

13
Realme: Leaping by Leaps and Bounds

IDC has reported Realme as the fastest growing smartphone brand in Q3 2019. With a
year-on-year shipment volume growth by over 400 percent, the Shenzhen-based
smartphone maker witnessed a market share of 14.3 percent by the end of September
2019.

The sub-brand of Oppo left Oppo behind in Q3 2019 in terms of YoY growth. Aggressively
priced handsets, channel focused marketing and a slew of budget to mid-range
smartphone launches seemed to be the weapons in the brand’s favour. Began as a
counterpart to parent company BBK Group’s offline-focused Vivo and Oppo, Realme
made a move to the offline market by mid-2019, raising more sales than before.

Fondly referenced to as the underdog who made it big in a blink in the smartphone
industry, Realme launched a host of budget handsets that turned out to be some of
the brand’s bestsellers in 2019.

The Realme C2, Realme 3 Pro, Realme 5 and the Realme 3i series proved to be some of
the most successful models for the makers. In the mid-tier segment, the Realme XT
outshone some well-established tough contenders.

14
Although not as big, the brand did see a rise in the pre-owned mobile market as well. Our
data reveals, as opposed to 0.04 percent in 2018, pre-owned Realme handsets were sold
by 1.05 percent users in 2019. Delhiites registered maximum Realme sales in the recom-
merce market with a share of over 20 percent, followed by Bengaluru with 14 percent.
Realme 1 was sold the most, by about 28 percent of users. It was followed by the Realme
2 Pro and Realme 2 with nearly 16 and 14 percent market share respectively.

Top-selling Second-hand Realme Smartphones

Realme 1 Realme 2 pro

28% 16%

Realme 2 Realme C1
14% 9%

Reame 3, Realme 3 Pro, Realme

Realme U1 C2, Realme X, Realme 3i, Realme

9% 10%
5 etc.

15
Samsung: Jack of All Trades, Master of One

For a brand with as diverse offerings as Samsung, the year in review looks truly
competitive. One of the few OEMs that manufacture handsets ranging from feature
phones to mid-tier and premium segments, 2019 was a lacklustre year.

However, the mid-tier and premium (handsets

The brand ruled in feature phone
priced at J30,000+) segments could only retain
shipment with a market share of 22
the second positions with market shares of
percent by the end of Q3 2019,
18.9 percent and 23 percent following Xiaomi
according to a study by Counterpoint.
and OnePlus respectively.

In the mid-tier and entry segments,

the Galaxy M and A series acted as
FEATURES 2019 FEATURES 2020 saving grace for Samsung. With
Smartphone for Young Gen. prices ranging from J7,999 to
J20,000, the South Korean biggy
Large Screens
came up with a slew of launches
Triple and Quad Cameras
this year in said segments. In the
premium segment, the Note 10+
Competetive Price and S10, S10+ and S10e contended
against the iPhone XRs and
Making Fun of Other Brands
OnePlus 7s of the world.

Samsung smartphones are mostly used by consumers within the age bracket of 25-34
years, as 63 percent users fall in this age group.

The brand has seen 72 percent male users and 28 percent female users in the past year.
12 percent of the entire Samsung smartphone usage in India comes from New Delhi.
Second on the list is Bengaluru with 10 percent, followed by Mumbai with 9 percent

The brand’s market share saw a decline in the pre-owned mobile market as well. 20.30
percent of pre-owned smartphones sold by people in 2018 were Samsung, which fell to
16.44 percent in 2019. The largest portion, 25 percent, of these sales came from
Samsung’s Delhi users, Mumbai users ranked second with a share of 10 percent. With a
share of about 27 percent, the Samsung Galaxy J2 was sold by most users selling a
Samsung smartphone, followed by Galaxy J7 with nearly 19 percent share.

16
Although, over the course of the last 4 years, Samsung has made a price hike of 35 percent
in the flagship segment, there wasn’t any price alteration for its entry level models.

Top-selling Second-hand Samsung Smartphones

Samsung Samsung
Galaxy J2 Galaxy J7
27% 19%

Samsung Samsung
Galaxy J7 Prime Galaxy J5
16% 9%

Samsung Galaxy J8, Galaxy A50, Galaxy

A50s, Galaxy S9, Galaxy J7 Nxt,
Galaxy J6
22%
Galaxy S9 Plus

7%

17
Vivo: The Lone Ranger

Vivo may have been amiss

from most of the discussions
one have had about the
top-selling smartphones but
Counterpoint seems to differ.
A recent study by said
research firm places Vivo on
the third rank in Q3 2019
market share in the
subcontinent. With a share
of 17 percent, Vivo comes
right after Xiaomi and
Samsung.

Owned by BBK Electronics, the Chinese manufacturer has seen a growth of about 7
percent since the third quarter of 2018. Of late, the brand has widened its horizon in
many dimensions. Be it the transition from playing in the J10,000-J 20,000 segment to
making entry tier models like the Vivo Y91i, the OEM is pulling off the risk-game quite
well. Its omnichannel availability- with presence across 70,000 outlets in India- can be
attributed to its wild popularity in the budget and mid-budget segments, mainly in Tier
2 and Tier 3 cities.

A brand that didn’t get caught up in the budget-flagship segment, Vivo launched
some top-selling models in its own price bracket in 2019. Models like the Vivo V17,
Vivo Y91 and Vivo Z1 Pro stood out as the most popular offerings from the brand.

Besides, the Vivo S1 registered itself as the most Googled mid-range smartphone of the
year, as per the search ‘Year in Search’.

While 74 percent Vivo smartphone users are male, 14 percent usage comes from New
Delhi.

Again, the younger demographic dominates in the consumption of this brand with 65
percent users falling in this category.

18
In the pre-owned mobile market, Vivo smartphones were sold by about 5 percent users in
2019, as opposed to less than 3 percent in 2018. While a major chunk, 27 percent of the
total Vivo sales in the pre-owned market took place in Delhi, almost 30 percent came
from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. Vivo V9 turned out to be the most sold Vivo handset in 2019
with a share of about 22 percent, followed by Vivo V5 with 17 percent. Apart from this, the
mid-level newcomers of Vivo have got a price rise of 50 percent in the last 4 years.

Top-selling Second-hand Vivo Smartphones

Vivo V9 Vivo V5
22% 17%

Vivo V7 Plus Vivo VV5S

15% 12%

Vivo Y55s, Vivo Y53, Vivo V7, Vivo

Vivo V11 Pro Y69, Vivo V3, Vivo Y51L etc.

11% 23%

19
Xiaomi the Money

From pushing sales through exclusive flash sales to boasting of 2,500 Mi stores, 6,000
large-format stores and 75 Mi Home stores, the Chinese OEM has surely come a long way
in India. Xiaomi has ruled the charts in the Indian smartphone scene- entry & mid-tier
segments- for about two years now.

IDC reports that Xiaomi has clocked up a

market share of 27.1 percent in the Q3
2019. Quicker updates, innovation,
offbeat marketing, and most
importantly, its super-competitive
pricing are why the brand is enjoying
immense popularity in the Indian
market.

Be it the sub-J10,000 category or the

J20,000+ segment, Xiaomi, along with its
sub-brands Redmi and POCO, has made
itself available across the spectrum.

Speaking of driving sales, the majority of the credit goes to the Redmi Note 7 Pro,
Redmi Note 7A and Redmi Note 7S which collectively contributed about 50 percent
to the brands’ overall shipments.

The Redmi K20 Series was just as impressive with a contribution of nearly 13 percent to
total shipments.

Xiaomi has the highest user base in Bengaluru and Mumbai follow suit with 11
New Delhi as 12 percent of total and 8 percent respectively. 28 percent of
Xiaomi smartphone consumption users in India are females and 62 percent fall
comes from the capital. in the age bracket of 25 to 34 years.

In the second-hand market, of all the pre-owned smartphones sold in 2019, about 26
percent were Xiaomi, a major jump from 18.43 percent in 2018. Delhi was the largest
seller of pre-owned Xiaomi smartphones with a share of about 25 percent, followed by
Bengaluru with a contribution of 10 percent. At the same time, about 23 percent of the
sales came from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. The most sold model by its users was the Redmi
Note 4 with a share of 21 percent, followed by the Redmi 4 with 18 percent.

20
In the mid-range segment, the Chinese maker has raised the prices by 45 percent over the
last 4 years, while the entry level price increment stays low at 17 percent.

Top-selling Second-hand Xiaomi Smartphones

Xiaomi Redmi Xiaomi

Note 4 Redmi 4
21% 18%

Xiaomi Redmi Xiaomi Redmi

Note 3 Note 5 Pro
17% 13%

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5, Redmi 3s Prime,

Redmi 4A, Redmi 5A, Mi A2,
Mi A1
20%
Redmi 3s,

11% Redmi Note 6

Pro etc.

21
Phonatics
Second-hand Smartphone Market Findings
in 2019

What Indians did with their spare smartphones in 2019?

LEFT IT UNUSED IN A
20% DRAWER

HANDED IT DOWN TO
24% FAMILY/FRIENDS

TRADED IT FOR A NEW

9% ONE

47% SOLD IT

Who sold their used smartphones?

73% The average resale

price of devices sold
by users was
27%
L7,400 in 2019

Maximum users sold their A majority of Indians have sold their

phones on weekends smartphones between 12 and 1 PM in 2019

22
 Phonatics

Oppo & Vivo handsets lost their resale

value the fastest in 2019 During the
Apple & OnePlus handsets went the festive season
slowest in resale price drop (Oct-Nov),
there was an
uplift of
Buyback
transactions
Xiaomi 3X Times
was the most in smartphone
were the highest sold brand by buyback
during the smartphone
Last Week users
of every month
in 2019

Pan India, 20% pre-owned smartphones sold were iOS-based,

80% were Android devices

80% 20%

Android iOS

*Data revealed by smartphone selling pattern by users at Cashify

Delhiites seemed to be breaking their smartphone screens the most, with 33%
among all Indian metro cities. Bengaluru came in second with 21%, followed
by Gurugram with 19%

23
GOT ANY SUGGESTIONS
FOR US?

WANT TO SHARE FEEDBACK OR

KNOW MORE ABOUT CASHIFY?

WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU:

Write us at: Contact us at:

[email protected] +91-72-900-58-900
For further queries or discussions.

Manak Waste Management Pvt Ltd., 3rd Floor, Plot No. 54,
Sector 44, Gurgaon, Haryana - 122003
visit us at www.Cashify.in
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