Every festive season the same advice gets repeated: wait for the sales, the price will drop. This year that advice is mostly wrong, and it is worth understanding why before you plan around it.
What actually happened to prices
Memory is the short answer. RAM and storage chips have climbed steeply since late 2025, and memory is one of the largest line items in a phone's bill of materials. Manufacturers absorbed some of it and passed on the rest, which is why the average selling price in India has drifted upward through the year rather than settling before the festive season the way it usually does.
The knock-on effect is that the discount pool is smaller. Brands and platforms fund festive offers out of margin, and there is simply less margin to fund them with this year. Expect narrower price cuts than you remember from previous Diwalis, concentrated on older stock rather than current models.
So is waiting ever the right call?
Sometimes, yes — but for reasons that have nothing to do with the festive calendar.
- Wait if the model you want has a successor confirmed within a few weeks. The outgoing model usually becomes the best value in the shop once it lands.
- Wait if your current phone still does everything you need. A phone you do not need is not a bargain at any discount.
- Do not wait purely for a bigger festive discount on a current model. In a year of rising costs, the deeper cut you are holding out for may not arrive.
Where the real savings are this year
With headline prices firmer, the difference between a good purchase and an expensive one has moved elsewhere. Buying the right specification is worth more than chasing a few hundred rupees: paying for storage you will actually fill is sensible, paying for a processor tier you will never stress is not.
The other saving is the one nobody prices in. A screen guard fitted properly, a case on from day one, and your data moved across without losing anything are worth more over two years than a small discount at the till — and at a counter they cost nothing.
What we would tell you in the shop
If you are buying this Diwali, buy the phone that fits how you actually use it, and buy it from somewhere you can walk back into. Sealed box, IMEI checked in front of you, GST bill, brand warranty. Those matter more in a year when everyone is under price pressure, not less.
Would we tell you to spend more because it is Diwali? No. We would tell you to spend it on the right phone, once.
Come and try a few in hand at the Janakpuri counter, or message us on WhatsApp with your budget and we will tell you honestly what it buys this year.