Synopsis

Nothing led India's smartphone market growth in the second quarter of 2026. This surge followed strong demand for their Phone (4a) and Phone (4a) Pro models. Increased brand visibility came from sponsoring the Royal Challengers Bengaluru IPL franchise. Samsung also saw growth, while the overall market faces price challenges. Nothing attributes its success to product design and innovation in a difficult market.

London-based consumer technology company Nothing was India's fastest-growing smartphone brand in the second quarter of 2026, with shipments rising 105% year-on-year, according to Counterpoint Research’s Monthly India Smartphone Tracker.

The research firm attributed the growth to strong demand for the Nothing Phone (4a) and Phone (4a) Pro models, along with increased brand visibility through the company's title sponsorship of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) franchise during the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Also Read: Smartphone brand Nothing plans to make India an export hub, begins shipments to US

Samsung was the only other major smartphone brand to register shipment growth during the quarter, posting a 2% year-on-year increase on the back of healthy demand for its Galaxy A and flagship S series devices.

The latest ranking marks the ninth time in the last 10 quarters that Nothing has emerged as India's fastest-growing smartphone brand, according to the company.

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This comes at a time when India's smartphone market faces a challenging demand environment. Counterpoint expects the market to contract 13% year-on-year in 2026 as rising memory and component costs continue to push up device prices.

"Smartphone memory prices have increased nearly four times since September 2025 and are expected to rise further," said Tarun Pathak, research director at Counterpoint Research. "Affordability will remain the industry's biggest challenge, with brands likely to focus on portfolio optimisation, financing-led affordability and premium offerings to support demand."

Nothing co-founder and India President Akis Evangelidis told ET Online that the company views the market share gains as a result of its focus on product design and innovation rather than an end goal in itself.

Also Read: Price hikes push buyers towards refurbished smartphones and laptops

"The exceptional response to the Phone (4a) Series, followed by the successful launch of Phone (4b), shows that our focus on design and innovation continues to resonate, especially in a declining market," Evangelidis said.

The company said the recently launched Phone (4b) was the highest-selling smartphone in the ₹30,000-and-above segment on Flipkart during its launch week. It also said the limited-edition Phone (4b) RCB Edition sold out in under two hours after launch.

Counterpoint expects premium smartphones to remain relatively resilient through the rest of the year, supported by financing schemes and growing consumer preference for higher-value devices, even as the broader mass-market segment remains under pressure.

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