One-Third Of Smartphone Purchases In 2023 Will Be Through Finance Schemes (Image: Pixabay)

Buying a smartphone or any other gadget is easy now, as customers can avail themselves of plenty of financing options. While buying a device, the majority of customers depend on finance options, as it is instantly available and will not create much financial burden. As per a new report, one-third of smartphone sales in the country are expected to be financed by 2023. This will be a significant increase from 18 percent in 2021 and 25 percent in 2022.

Attractive finance schemes offered by the online platforms during the festive sale are considered a strong reason for the rise in popularity of smartphone financing. According to Tarun Pathak, research director at Counterpoint Research, easy finance options are expected to facilitate half of the smartphone sales in the premium segment (above ₹30,000) this year. In the affordable segment, the share of finance schemes will surge to 25 percent of total sales.

On October 25, HMD Global, the maker of Nokia phones, introduced a finance option called HMD Easy Pay. With the new scheme, HMD is trying to attract more customers. Now, if a user wishes to buy a new Nokia device, they need to only pay 20 percent of the cost of the device as a down payment, and the balance amount can be paid using 6-month or 8-month installment payment options. It is to be noted that HMD”s finance option is currently available for only certain Nokia devices.

Brands including Samsung and Xiaomi also offer similar finance options for their smartphones. In early October, Xiaomi launched a finance scheme named the Xiaomi Easy Finance Program (XEF). Xiaomi started this initiative in partnership with Axio and Trustonic. Samsung, the well-known South Korean smartphone manufacturer, introduced the Samsung Finance Plus scheme in 2020. The no-cost EMI is the popular payment scheme opted by buyers, as they are not required to pay any extra charges.