SRINAGAR: The discounts offered during Amazon and Flipkart’s July festive sales largely failed to provide genuine savings to smartphone buyers, as most price cuts merely reversed sharp pre-sale increases triggered by global memory-chip and component shortages, according to a new study by technology market research firm Techarc.
The study found that nearly 68 per cent of the 50 smartphone models analysed were selling above their original launch prices even after festive discounts were applied, suggesting that supply-chain disruptions rather than seasonal demand drove pricing trends this year.
Techarc tracked 50 smartphone stock-keeping units (SKUs) from 10 brands across price segments ranging from below Rs 10,000 to premium flagship devices. The analysis compared each model’s launch price, its regular June 2026 market price, and the effective festive sale price after bank card offers, excluding exchange bonuses, across Amazon and Flipkart.
According to the report, prices of smartphones that experienced inflation before the sales had risen by an average 9.9 per cent above their launch prices. Only 12 per cent of the models followed the traditional market pattern of becoming cheaper than their launch price before festive sales.
The study concluded that the advertised discounts during the sales created an illusion of savings. On average, Flipkart promoted discounts of 5.5 per cent and Amazon 2.3 per cent compared with June prices. However, when compared with the original launch prices, smartphones still sold at an average 3.7 per cent above launch price on Flipkart and 7.1 per cent above launch price on Amazon after the sales concluded.
Less than one-third of the smartphone listings on either platform were actually available below their original launch prices, indicating that genuine bargains were limited.
Techarc also found that the greater the price increase before the festive sale, the less likely consumers were to receive a meaningful discount. Smartphones that had experienced the steepest pre-sale price hikes saw festive discounts almost entirely absorbed in reversing those increases, while devices with little or no earlier inflation were more likely to sell below their launch prices.
The study highlighted differences between India’s two largest e-commerce platforms. Flipkart offered comparatively more genuine discounts than Amazon across the sample. About 33 per cent of Flipkart listings ended below launch price compared with 30 per cent on Amazon. Additionally, only 18 per cent of Flipkart listings showed no real reduction from launch price, compared with 40 per cent on Amazon.
Among 35 smartphone models available on both platforms, Flipkart offered the lower effective price on 54 per cent of the listings.
“The discount season this year tells a supply-chain story as much as a retail one,” said Faisal, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Techarc.
“The scale of price inflation ahead of the sale, driven by global memory and component costs, meant most of what showed up as a festive discount was catching up rather than a genuine saving. Buyers who compare the sale price to the launch price—not just to last month’s price—are the ones getting the real picture,” he said.
For the study, Techarc classified a “real discount” only when the festive sale price fell below the original launch price. Price reductions that merely lowered June’s inflated prices while remaining at or above launch levels were categorised as a partial rollback of the earlier price increase.
Techarc is an independent technology market research, analytics and consulting firm covering India’s consumer technology, automotive, telecom and e-commerce sectors.
