New Delhi, Sep 10 (IANS): Smartphones will be the most used mobile device category by the end of this year as India registered 484.7 million smartphones in use by the end of June (H1 2019), which is 14 per cent more than the feature phones and just 2 per cent less than feature phones and smart feature phones combined together, according to a release on Tuesday.

"Although the average selling price of smartphones has increased in the range of 11-13 per cent in the past 2-3 years owing to several new features being introduced, consumers see great value in owning one. Smartphones are not just a lifestyle electronics but add great value to the productivity and accessibility of a user," Faisal Kawoosa, Founder and Chief Analyst, techARC, said in a statement.

According to the market research agency, currently, there are more than 400 brands of smartphones used by consumers in India and the installed base of users in the country is spread over 12,000+ models of various original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

Consumers in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh use over 9,000 different smartphone models.

This is followed by users in Delhi, Gujarat and Karnataka where people use more than 7000 different models.