Amazon India signals softer electronics volumes ahead of festival season as prices rise

Reports coming in for today mention that Amazon India is seeing some softness in electronics volumes ahead of the festive season as rising device prices prompt consumers to hold on to their existing products. The e-commerce major, that stated, is seeing expansion in the value of electronics sales, with weaker volumes not yet enough to propel the category into slide, a senior executive stated.

This comes at a time when the electronics market is entering the festive season amid an unprecedented climb in device costs, fuelled in part by shortages of chips and memory. Market watchers have forecast a 13-20 percent slide in electronics sales this year, with smartphones anticipated to bear much of the pressure as elevated prices make consumers more wary around upgrades.

“The cost price increases in electronics have been unprecedented. It is almost a black swan event for the category with the chip shortage and memory shortage,” Zeba Khan, director of consumer electronics at Amazon India, told Moneycontrol.

“There is some softness in volumes, but not to the extent that it is leading to degrowth. Volumes are not declining faster than the gain in prices. There is some volume softness, but we are not seeing the value of the category contract. In fact, we are seeing solid expansion,” Khan stated.

The price surge is additionally emerging as a concern just ahead of Amazon’s Great Indian Festival and Flipkart’s Big Billion Days. The flagship annual sales for both e-commerce giants typically account for a significant portion of their yearly topline.

The scale of the price shock is particularly visible in smartphones, which stay one of the biggest categories during the festive period.

Moneycontrol has noted that smartphone memory prices have increased nearly fourfold since September 2025. Counterpoint Research anticipates India's smartphone market to slide 13 percent this year. Smartphone shipments declined 11 percent year-on-year in the June quarter, the sharpest slide for the quarter in six years.

The pressure is not confined to phones. PCs and other discretionary electronics are additionally facing a weaker replacement cycle.

For Amazon, affordability has, as a result, become a bigger part of the festive sales equation.

“In that kind of environment, we have had to work much harder to bring affordability to our customers and make sure we keep offer the largest selection of technology products online and stay a trusted destination,” Khan stated.

It is working with brands and banks on exchange offers, EMI and no-cost EMI options. During its recent Prime Day sale, one in four purchases across mobiles, televisions, electronics and larger appliances were made through EMI, with four out of five of those purchases using no-cost EMI, Amazon stated.

Amazon is nevertheless expecting some of the demand that has been deferred by elevated prices to return during the festive period.

“There is a lot of pent-up demand, especially in electronics, because people have been holding on and looking at the Great Indian Festival as a time to get the best affordability levers and upgrade to the AI-led devices they want,” Khan stated.

More than half of smartphone customers surveyed by Amazon stated they were looking to upgrade within the next three months, Khan stated.

“The upgrade cycles are longer because prices are increasing. People are holding on and waiting for the right moment and we believe the right moment is the Great Indian Festival,” Khan stated.

The combination of unpredictable demand and elevated component costs is additionally complicating inventory planning.

“This year, because of the chip shortage and memory shortage, prices are increasing, so it is very difficult to predict consumer demand. At the same time, there is a raw material shortage as well. The demand is unpredictable. Supply is additionally allocated and less,” Khan stated.

She stated Amazon is not seeing a broad-based overstocking problem. Instead, in segments where demand is particularly firm, the firm and its sellers are seeking additional inventory.

For Amazon, the festive season will be less around selling more electronics and more around how much value the platform can generate from a market where customers are paying more, upgrading less frequently and waiting for the biggest affordability levers before making a purchase.