New Delhi, Oct 5 (IANS): Around 42 per cent Indians plan to buy a premium smartphone (Rs 30,000 and above) this festive season, and 5G, latest processor and RAM are the top specifications while making the purchase, a new report showed on Thursday.

With respect to channel preference, up to 86 per cent could purchase via online, with Amazon as the top preferred platform, according to Counterpoint Research.

About 31 per cent of Indian consumers mention upgrading to the latest technology as the key reason for the smartphone purchase.

Samsung, Apple, Xiaomi and OnePlus are the most preferred brands this festive season.

“With the smartphone becoming the most important electronic gadget, consumers are cautious about its quality and features. That is why they consult multiple sources before making the purchase while increasingly opting for premium smartphones,” said senior analyst Arushi Chawla.

When asked about the top preferred smartphone brand, Samsung was at the top with 33 per cent, followed by Apple (18 per cent), Xiaomi (11 per cent) and OnePlus (10 per cent).

The top five reasons for people to prefer Amazon are attractive offers, availability of top brands, availability of latest devices, delivery speed and reliable delivery, said the report.

“5G will continue to push smartphone demand in the coming years. Its presence has now reached lower price bands (Rs 10,000 and below). Further, it is interesting to see that 20 per cent of the respondents prefer switching to online platforms from offline modes, with the top reason for 43 per cent of this segment being the availability of the latest devices,” said Research Director Tarun Pathak.

The report also found that 22 per cent of the respondents consider cashbacks/rewards as their top preferred offer when making the smartphone purchase. This is followed by bank offers (21 per cent) and no-cost EMI (16 per cent).