Prabhu RamOnline sales of smartphones are expected to fall sharply in the January-March quarter after restrictions on discounts, among other curbs, kicked in on February 1, leading handset companies to increase their focus on forming more tie-ups with brick-and-mortar stores.
The most hurt would be vendors of Honor, Asus and Realme, which are online-only or online-heavy brands, said Prabhu Ram, head-industry intelligence group at market research firm CyberMedia Research. These companies have now started forming partnerships with stores chains such as Reliance Digital and Croma.
