Longer financing tenures underline India’s smartphone purchases

India’s smartphone market may be slowing, but longer EMI tenures are keeping premium phone aspirations intact

In a rather worrying trend, India’s smartphone financing system is clocking longer tenures, as consumers with an intention to buying premium phones, are willing to often pay higher interest in return for paying back that cost over a period of time. This method, however, is proving to be a pressure release valve for phone makers, who are desperate for traction amidst plateauing demand. There are two key reasons for that—phones have become more expensive due to geopolitical instability led supply chain issues, and a typical lull ahead of the festive quarter later in the year.

Role of smartphone financing is no longer about offering longer EMI tenures; it’s about making monthly ownership more affordable. (iStock representative)

Research firm Counterpoint’s latest Smartphone Financing Tracker data released today, points out two key details—the NBFC, or non-banking financial institutions financing tenure averaged 10 months in Q2 2026, while Tier-II towns see as many as 57.5% of smartphone purchases in Q2 done via EMIs. In Tier-III towns too, EMI penetration remains around 55% across phone purchases. In metros, that share is 41% of smartphone sales.

“The role of smartphone financing is no longer just about offering longer EMI tenures; it’s about making monthly ownership more affordable. Consumers today are increasingly looking at how much they need to pay every month rather than focusing solely on the device’s upfront price,” explains Tarun Pathak, Research Director at Counterpoint.

In terms of how the split is across phone brands, Apple’s aspirational positioning among phone buyers sees its EMI tenures average at 17.2 months, by far the highest. Samsung (11.4 months), Oppo (9.9 months) and Vivo (9.8 months) follow. The shortest EMI tenures among leading phone makers, is Xiaomi’s 8.5 months.

In previous months, phone brands and financing partners have doubled down on flexible financing schemes for customers.

For instance, Samsung India this week confirmed that its three newest foldable phones have shattered previous pre-order records in India. That’s astonishing, for a phones with price tags starting ₹1,99,999 (Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra), ₹1,79,999 (Galaxy Z Fold8) and ₹1,24,999 (Galaxy Z Flip8). Samsung says they have received 2,71,000 pre-orders received within just 72 hours of their launch on July 22; last year, it had taken 15 days to receive a similar number of pre-orders for the Galaxy Z Fold7 and Z Flip7.

Samsung’s three-pronged approach that includes a first of its kind 30-month no-cost EMI option, a Galaxy Forever subscription that offers 24 no-cost EMIs and certain buyback guarantees, and partnerships with banks including co-branded credit cards with Axis Bank. Samsung’s is just one example.

Apple, with iPhone prices expected to increase in the coming weeks, is also leveraging partnerships with banks and NBFCs across various payments methods and delivering cashbacks on purchases as well as no-cost EMIs. As are Xiaomi, OnePlus and others.

Counterpoint expects that the growing availability of longer tenure EMIs, flexible repayment structures and trade-in programs will help lower the effective monthly cost of smartphone ownership. They also point to RBI’s new, albeit controversial device locking framework for financed phones, as a way of strengthening credit confidence, which could lead to greater participation by banks and NBFCs.

There is expectation that EMIs across NBFCs, credit cards and debit cards will account for 42% of total smartphone sales in India in 2026.