New Delhi, Apr 28 (IANS): India's smartphone shipments declined 1 per cent (on-year) to reach over 38 million units in the March quarter this year amid ongoing component shortages and demand decline, a new report showed on Thursday.

The quarter started on a slower note due to the third Covid-19 wave. However, demand picked up in the fourth week of January, according to Counterpoint Research.

"The component issues were a major reason for this decline and affected almost all the brands. OEMs are adopting various strategies to tackle the supply issues, such as expanding the supplier portfolio and increasing local sourcing," said senior research analyst Prachir Singh.

"However, the market is expected to remain modest in Q2 2022 as well due to supply disruptions arising from the Covid-19 situation in China," he added.

The Chinese brands held a 74 per cent share in Q1 2022.

Apple led the premium smartphone market (Rs 30,000 and above), followed by Samsung.

"Samsung revamped its Galaxy A series to drive consumer demand in offline channels. Also, the consumer response to the Galaxy S22 series has been quite positive," said research analyst Shilpi Jain.

Samsung recaptured the second spot in Q1 2022 with a 1 per cent YoY decline.

It also remained the top-selling 5G smartphone brand in India for the second consecutive quarter.

India's overall mobile handset market declined 16 per cent (on-year) in Q1 2022.

The feature phone market registered a decline of 39 per cent (on-year).

Supply issues, high inventory levels and softening of consumer demand due to high inflation were the major reasons for this decline, the report noted.