Mangaluru: Mobile phone dealers across Mangaluru are witnessing a sharp decline in smartphone sales, with consumers increasingly opting to repair older devices or buy refurbished handsets as rising prices make new smartphones unaffordable for many buyers.Muneer, secretary, Dakshina Kannada Mobile Retailers Association, said sales have dropped significantly compared to previous years. Earlier, a shop could sell 15 to 20 mobile phones a day. Now, even selling five phones a day has become difficult, he said. According to him, repair work has increased as customers continue using older devices instead of replacing them.“People who would earlier set aside damaged phones are now getting them repaired and reusing them. Display replacements and similar repairs have increased,” he said, estimating that repair-related business has risen by around 25%.Former association president Shailendra said the shift has also fuelled demand for refurbished and second-hand smartphones. “Customers are increasingly looking for refurbished devices because new smartphones have become expensive. Demand for second-hand phones has risen sharply,” he said.He added that used phones that earlier sold for around Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000 are now fetching between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000 in the resale market.Shahul from Phone Zone in Hampankatta, who said that he has seen a 40% decline in sales as compared to last year, said the trend is largely due to rising smartphone prices and the shrinking availability of budget models. He said the customers visiting stores typically have budgets of Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000, but many fail to find suitable devices within that price range currently. The slowdown has also affected sales promoters employed by smartphone brands, whose incentives are linked to monthly sales targets, another dealer said.Another dealer said that smartphone stocks, mainly budget smartphones, were not accessible.Prajwal, team leader handling Redmi sales in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, said the slowdown is visible across brands and outlets. Sales have declined by around 30% compared to last year. Price increases have affected demand, he said, adding that several smartphone models across brands have seen frequent price revisions in recent months.Prakash, sales head of Samsung mobiles for Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, said that they have better sales compared to other brands, as the brand itself is into manufacturing chipsets.Another sales manager associated with a leading smartphone brand expressed hope that demand would improve during the upcoming festive season, but said that the sales might rise for chain shops rather than local dealers, as they cannot offer discounts.
