Industry Odisha Bureau,Oct 04: Many flagship smartphones now cost over ₹1 lakh, and premium buyers upgrade faster. Subscriptions, longer EMIs, trade-ins and buybacks are making the latest phone a monthly expense.
For premium buyers, a phone’s sticker price is no longer the only number. Increasingly, they ask what it costs each month to stay current. That question sharpens once flagship handsets cross ₹1 lakh.
Smartphone subscriptions are the newest answer. They offer premium devices for a fixed monthly payment. Some plans let users upgrade, return or eventually buy the phone.
Subscriptions test ownership
BytePe is among the companies betting on this demand. Founder Jayant Jha said its subscription business is growing 20-30% month on month. Subscriptions account for 95% of BytePe’s users, he said.
Demand centres on Apple iPhones, Google Pixels and Samsung Galaxy phones. Jha said the model lowers upfront costs and eases upgrades. Users also skip the hassle of selling old devices themselves.
Upgrades come faster
Shorter replacement cycles strengthen that case. In the ₹1 lakh-plus segment, buyers upgrade every 12-24 months, said Servify’s Sreevathsa Prabhakar. He is the company’s founder and chief executive.
Better cameras, AI features and foldable designs give buyers reasons to switch. Someone replacing a phone every year or two weighs ownership differently. The monthly cost of staying current starts to matter more.
Financing edges towards access
Financing tools now tackle that cost, each easing a different barrier. No-cost EMI spreads the purchase price over several months. It does not reduce the phone’s price itself.
Such tenures once ran nine to 12 months, Prabhakar said. Some now stretch to as much as 24 months. Trade-ins cut the upfront payment by exchanging an older handset.
Assured buybacks fix a future exit route, lowering the overall cost of ownership. That matters for a device like Samsung’s ₹1.99 lakh Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra. Together, these tools offer predictable payments and a built-in exit or upgrade route.
The result resembles an access model, though it is not a subscription. Samsung’s Galaxy Forever and Google’s Pixel Upgrade Program sit in this overlap. They blend financing, assured buybacks and easier upgrades, said Counterpoint Research analyst Shubham Singh.
A tougher festive season
The shift arrives as wider demand softens. India’s festive-season smartphone sales are estimated to fall about 12% on-year in 2026. Singh said higher device prices have left little room for steep discounts.
The premium segment, however, should remain a key demand driver. Servify handles more than 300,000 trade-ins a year. Its October-November volumes typically run about 50% above an average month.
The ₹60,000-₹1 lakh band is gaining traction as financing and trade-ins ease payments. Above ₹1 lakh, including foldables, existing premium users increasingly drive upgrades.
Beyond the metros
Servify’s trade-in growth now reaches beyond the metros. It is seeing gains in tier-II and tier-III cities. That signals trade-ins spreading, not necessarily subscriptions.
Ownership still leads
Subscriptions remain far from mainstream. Singh described subscription and rental models as very early-stage in India. EMI and financing remain the main routes to premium phones.
Adoption will hinge on competitive monthly costs and attractive buyback values. Seamless online and offline availability will matter too.
Subscriptions are not automatically cheaper either. Their value depends on total payments and how often users upgrade. Owners can keep devices longer and decide when to sell.
Paying to stay current
Jha does not see access replacing purchase. He calls it another way to use premium technology. The real test, he said, is convenience, flexibility and total cost.
India’s smartphone buyers are not abandoning ownership. But premium consumers now have more ways to fund frequent upgrades. Affordability is increasingly judged by the monthly outlay, not the sticker price.
