Majority of Indian Smartphone Users Don’t Believe in the Megapixel Hype: CMR Survey

As per a new CMR Insights on the Go Survey released, 79% of the consumers in this price segment believe that image quality is not dependent on a number of megapixels. Five in every six smartphone users in the price band of INR 20,000-30,0000 hold this belief.

While smartphone brands tout the increasing megapixel prowess of their phones, consumers are more concerned about the quality of the front camera in their quest to get the perfect selfie. Consumers accord more importance to selfie quality.

According to Prabhu Ram, Head- Industry Intelligence Group (IIG), CMR, “What the survey insights provide us with, is a compelling picture of a classic conundrum. While smartphone brands focus on increasing the megapixel capabilities of in the rear camera, consumer priorities, in the sub-30k segment, are elsewhere.

Consumers believe that the image quality is not dependent on megapixels. For them, the selfie should be picture-perfect, and that’s what really matters.

Having said that, there are some niche consumer cohorts, including photography enthusiasts, who would benefit from higher megapixels, as they seek to capture very fine details, with greater color accuracy.”

64% of the consumers feel the front camera is more important than the rear camera. Interestingly, one in every three users has stated the poor quality of the front camera as a dissatisfaction factor with their smartphone.

When it comes to taking selfies in low light conditions, smartphone users are not satisfied with the results. They believe smartphone brands should bring innovations that make the selfie picture-perfect, under all conditions.

“The survey results illustrate that today’s consumers are taking more selfies than they did six months ago. While they accord more importance to the front smartphone camera, they still believe there is significant room for improvement there.

Consumers seek more refined image quality under all conditions, including low light,” added Satya Mohanty, Head- Industry Consumer Group (ICG), CMR.

Here are the key survey highlights:

Smartphone Camera is the number one consideration for consumers while buying a new phone (65%). In terms of smartphone specs, consumers give more preference to the front camera (64%) followed by a rear camera (36%).

In fact, 60% of smartphone users, in the price band of INR 20,000-30,000, consumers feel the front camera is more important than the rear camera.

In the price band of INR 20,000-30,0000, 75% of smartphone users do not consider camera megapixels while purchasing a new smartphone.

60% of smartphone users are satisfied with the front camera of their smartphone. However, 36% of the smartphone users in the price band of INR 20,000-30,000 have expressed dissatisfaction with the quality of their front smartphone camera. 53% of the smartphone users in this price band feel that they need more features for the front camera.

55% of those who take selfies in the low light condition is not satisfied with the results. In the price band of INR 20,000-30,000, 58% of such smartphone users are not satisfied with the low light results.

70% of users agree that smartphone brands should bring innovations that make the selfie picture-perfect, under all conditions. In the INR 20,000-30,000 price band, 72% of smartphone users share a similar sentiment.

The CMR Insights on the Go Survey surveyed 600 smartphone owners across the top six Indian cities: Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad.

The study was conducted in early April and focused on mapping smartphone camera usage (in the sub