Smartphone Prices Increasing in India 2026: Apple iPhones to Samsung

Apple iPhone prices are increasing from 1st April, 2026 due to the withdrawal of Apple's demand generation (DG) support - as per several reports by reputed news agencies. On the other hand, android smartphone prices are also increasing. Entry level smartphone prices are increasing by ₹2000 to ₹3000. For example, this Motorola G35 5G went from ₹9,999 in December 2025 to ₹11,999 in April 2026 right now. Similarly, this Realme P3 Lite 5G went from under 10K price to ₹12,999 right now. Despite India smartphone market sales falling 9% YoY in the first 9 weeks of 2026, it is expected that smartphone prices in 2026 will stay on a higher end. 

Mobile phone prices are increasing in India and globally due to factors such as global memory chip shortage as AI data centers are gobbling up available supply, surge in memory prices, geopolitical tensions, currency fluctuations, increase in cost of overall components and reduced brand subsidies and incentives.

Samsung A57 5G with Exynos 1680 launched in India on March 25th 2026 is priced at ₹53,999 (pre-order price) and ₹56,999 (Flipkart price) which is an increase of ₹13,000 to ₹16,000 over its predecessor Samsung A56 5G which stands at ₹40,999 right now on Vijay Sales. This can be seen with iQOO, Realme, Motorola, and other major smartphone brands too including Apple iPhones.

OnePlus Nord 6 debuting on Amazon with 9000mAh battery, Snapdragon 8S Gen 4 and 165 FPS gaming on April 7th is also expected to be priced between 35K to 37K. A premium price over the OnePlus Nord 5 which was launched last year at ₹29,999 + offered free OnePlus earbuds. 

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While there's no official announcement made, several reports confirm that Apple iPhone prices are increasing as the American company, Apple withdraws Demand Generation (DG) support from retailers. For years, Apple has been offering retailers an incentive of ₹5000 on iPhones which helped retail shops to give customers a discount without compromising their profit margins or manipulating the MRP. Another reason why your iphone might get more costlier is due to the reduced instant bank discount / cashback from ₹6000 to ₹1000, a move allegedly implemented by retailers due to rising costs. The latest Apple iPhone 17 is not expected to be affected by this change. Rather, the older iPhone models are expected to take a blow and get costlier.

For context, iPhone 16 was available at ₹48,399 in Big Billion Days Sale of Flipkart last year and later on was lingering around around an average price of ₹64,900 with approx 5K bank discount offers (under 60K price inclusive of discount). The same is now up for grabs at ₹69,900 with no bank discounts. 

Whether this is a temporary pull back or not is something only time can tell.

Industry experts at Counterpoint and IDC predict that this supply-side pressure will persist through at least the first half of 2027. For consumers, the message is clear… the era of frequent, cheap upgrades is over. Unless there is a significant cooling in global AI infrastructure demand, the "new normal" for a decent 5G smartphone in India is likely to settle well above the ₹12,000.

Moreover, not only smartphones, but the overall tech and electronics category is seeing a price rise. India's Maruti Suzuki recently warned of price hike as Gulf war raises costs - The Reuters. 

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