New Delhi, Feb. 18 -- Every time you buy a smartphone, the features and specifications you get at a certain price level multiply from the previous buy. This percolation of high tech to lower-price gadgets has contributed to budget smartphones priced at less than Rs.20,000 seeing a revival of sales in the past year, a trend that industry insiders expect to continue in 2025.

This revival is happening in the context of an overall slowdown in sales of smartphones in recent years. Overall smartphone sales in India grew just 4% in 2024 year-on-year (y-o-y) after being stagnant the previous year, according to market researcher International Data Corp (IDC) India.

However, sales of phones priced at Rs.20,000 and below sold 35% more in 2024 comp...