Factors that drive the smartphone accessories market today in India

Manish Gupta

Over the years, mobiles phones and tablets have emerged as essential devices that consumers rely for communication and entertainment. Today these devices have naturally become an extension of our daily existence so much so that we literally cannot function without them.

Due to the constant development of new smartphones, it has marked a huge shift in consumers’ behaviors with wide-ranging accessories, creating a robust demand for different types of trendy accessories.

As per media reports, the accessories market is potentially twice or even thrice the size of smartphones market since a buyer usually ends up buying two or more accessories for a device by default. Due to the proliferation of accessories available, India is extremely optimistic about the growth.

With numerous players getting into this segment, the market has been witnessing tremendous growth in the past few years. According to European Research Council (ERC), the accessories market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9.2% during 2015-2020.

Nowadays, we see a lot of consumers using smart accessories to increase the basic aesthetics of their devices. Depending on the choices and preferences, consumers customize their phones, tablets, ipods, ipads, laptops with different accessories.

Due to the consumers’ desire for attractive and powerful mobile accessories such as fully active power banks, batteries, MFI cables, car chargers, wireless chargers, power inverters, earphones, headphone and the list goes on, new players are making an aggressive foray into this segment.  And the good news is that, consumers are willing to pay a higher amount as well.

The key factors that are driving our smart accessories market today:

-The introduction of 3G and 4G networks: consumers shifting from feature phones to smartphones
-More and more number of consumers starting to use smartphones in rural cities
-Millennial populations where the demand from youth have taken mobility in a big way
-New players entering the market offer a decent amount of mobile accessories, which are affordable for consumers
-Attractive and trendy products at affordable rates
-Rapid innovations in products such as charges, batteries, power banks, earphones, etc.
-A strong distribution network of online/offline retailers
-How vendors and mobile providers are working towards building a digital ecosystem with an aim of supporting Digital India initiative

Online retail giants play a comprehensive role towards the mobile accessory market. When online companies provide consumers flexibility, multiple options and the best suited prices, there is an increase in the purchasing value of the market. For example, Flipkart’s Big Billion Sale or Amazon’s Great Indian Sale or Snapdeal’s Unbox Sale offers, consumers see a lot of attractive offers that in itself, drives the growth of smart accessories.

Considering all the factors that are floating in the market, accessories are no longer a mere inclusion to one’s life, it’s one of the major utilities today. Our country holds a huge opportunity for such products due to a host of new devices, technologies and features that, in the end, make a consumer’s device look good and add value to users.

Companies will need to focus on specific cities or market regions and offer them in retail stores also. As and when consumers get more aware about the latest technologies and accessories, a mobile accessory company is sure to rise in value.

The author is DGM- Mobile Accessories at Intex Technologies