Online smartphone sales may surpass offline sales for the first time, says report

More smartphones will be sold online than offline - for the first time ever - during this festive season, spurred by the ongoing flagship sales of Flipkart, Amazon and other e-tailers.

According to a recent report by research and consulting firm techARC, the October to December quarter is expected to notch up sales of 36 million smartphones, of which 19.1 million, or 53%, will be sold online. So far, online sales of smartphones stood at around 40%. And ecommerce behemoths Flipkart and Amazon will bag the lion's share of the pie, The Economic Times reported.

The report estimates smartphone sales to generate a staggering $6.36 billion (Rs 46,890 crore) during the festive season, of which online sales are expected to contribute $3.67 billion (Rs 27,094 crore).

"This is a great opportunity for third party digital commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart, which will take maximum pie of the potential. 85% of the online smartphone sales will be through such platforms," Faisal Kawoosa, Founder and Principal Analyst, techARC, told the daily.

Comparing the two arch-rivals, Kawoosa added, "Flipkart has an edge in terms of the choice it offers in terms of models exclusively available with it". The Walmart-backed homegrown etailer is reportedly offering more exclusives in terms of choice than Amazon, while the latter's revenue potential hinges on the success of OnePlus 6T.

According to techARC, online sales have started picking up in the budget to mid-ranges of the smartphone market as well. Contrary to the earlier trend, people are now also buying smartphones of Rs 7,000 and above on the online platforms, which is driving up volumes on this channel.

Moreover, with brands like Samsung, Oppo and Vivo diluting their channels strategy and putting up select models - or entire ranges - for online sales, the ecommerce marketplace has got a major fillip. The entry of sub-brands targeted at emerging markets, such as Xiaomi's Poco and Realme, which is Oppo's side-project, are just the icing on the cake.