‘Indian consumers perplexed about finding best 5G smartphone’

With several 5G smartphones now available in India, the major hindrance for consumers is about identifying a smartphone that could deliver the best 5G experience, a report has revealed. With no 5G use case to look at as a reference, consumers want to purchase the best smartphones defined by the ones offering seamless connectivity, blanket coverage, and endless capabilities. “Consumers are currently perplexed about being able to find the best 5G device for themselves. As there is no application or use case to act as a reference point, they are looking at other critical factors like the device being able to work across locations and operators defining best for them,” said Faisal Kawoosa, chief analyst and founder, Techarc. The third critical factor is configuration of key specifications that are important in a 5G era. “Contrary to 4G where video streaming became an acid test for masses to understand the quality of a device, we are yet to have something like that in the 5G scenario,” Kawoosa added. Pricing appears to be alright, with just 13 per cent of users not being able to find a 5G smartphone in their preferred price zone. It is worth noting that 57 per cent of the respondents plan to buy a 5G smartphone in this calendar year itself. Most (72 per cent) of the respondents are planning to purchase a 5G smartphone over the next couple of years in the price range of Rs 10,000-Rs 30,000. “This marks a major change in the structure of the smartphone market, with now maximum opportunity lying in the middle segments as against earlier trend where it lied in the entry to basic segments,” the report mentioned.