Rising adoption of smart devices to accelerate the Indian mobile accessories market

Sailing through the test of times, India has proudly emerged as the third largest economy of the world. It has not only proved its mettle across diverse sectors but also surfaced as a lucrative market for various industries. For instance, registering a growth of 17 percent in 2017, the Indian smartphone sector is booming as the third largest smartphone market in the world. The growing penetration and upward moving graph of the smartphone industry have simultaneously given the mobile market accessories an equal opportunity to boom and flourish.

India, as a country, has always remained abreast with the time, technology, and advancements. One of the latest instances is the Digital India campaign that is striving to engage every Indian to come onto the digital platform and match pace with technology. Smartphones have played an intrinsic part in ensuring the reach and intention of the campaign to the last mile. Hence, smartphones have gone much beyond from being just a communication device and emerged as an imperative aspect of everyday life. With the handy handset offering multiple facilities like camera, calculator, fitness measuring, and more, smartphones are a one-stop destination for every mode of communication that technology can put forward.

Alongside, mobile security and safety have become important concerns for users. As a result, while the users make sure to own the most advanced handset, they also do not mind walking extra miles to keep their mobile phones safe, trendy, and in vogue. As a result, this has become the prime driving factor for the success of mobile accessories in India.

Insight into Indian mobile accessories market

Interestingly, the term “mobile accessories” is not restricted to only fancy mobile covers, stands, safeguards, or decorative pieces, but also constitutes support hardware like earphones, headsets, dongles, chargers, memory cards, and the like. The active rise in exposure to the internet has given a significant impetus to the growth of the mobile accessories market in India.

Undoubtedly, the skyrocketing inclination of concepts like online streaming and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) have been the other prime drivers of growth. However, the technological advancements made in the field of mobile accessories have given an equal push to the Indian mobile accessories industry to reach such an unprecedented height.

Based on the different types of products that the mobile accessories market can offer, reports have split the market pie into protective cases, chargers, headsets, batteries, memory cards, power banks, portable speakers, and others, of which the protective cases have taken the lion’s share.

Drivers of growth and associated risks

Apart from the above stated vital driving factors, availability of a strong distribution network and zeal to gain the competitive advantage is further making it easier for the mobile accessories market to climb the ladder. At present, India has uncountable multi-brand stores and online retailers of mobile phones and accessories, which together form a strong network that makes it possible to reach the last mile. Also, the slashing of the average selling price of overall accessories has further made the products affordable for consumers from all economic strata, which has enabled the market to expand its customer base.

Having said that, pullback factors like lack of standardization, a threat to privacy, counterfeit production of branded accessories, and the compulsion to adhere to competitive pricing in order to safeguard market hold continue to remain potent risks that can put a limit to the burgeoning growth of the Indian mobile accessories market in the upcoming years.

Fortunately, despite the roadblocks, the Indian mobile accessories market is doing well in cashing in on the opportunities it has been provided by the smartphone market. As a result, the experts have projected the accessories market to grow at a CAGR of 10.5 percent between FY 2016 and FY 2024, thereby expected to garner USD 3.54 billion by the end of 2024.

Sanjeev Bhatia is the Co-Founder of OnlyMobiles.com, an omni-channel marketplace selling pocket gadgets such as mobile phones, wearables, tablets, and accessories.

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.)