4 days ago
Inspecting Liverpool x adidas jersey, India's phone shipments, and 5G broadband
The landscape of India's smartphone market, in the first half of the year, is now clear. IDC's latest Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker (read the report), says 70 million smartphones were shipped in the country in the first six months of this year — and that means a 0.9% year-on-year growth. It is a tale of stability, or plateauing, depending on how positive you feel today. Of this number, 37 million shipments came in the Q2, which was a 7.3% increase compared with the same quarter a year prior. There are two reasons for this subdued demand. First, consumers aren't upgrading existing phones or buying new phones as frequently as perhaps a couple of years ago. Secondly, average selling prices are rising, which IDC values at US$275 in 2Q25 and a growth of 10.8% year-on-year, and that's forcing potential buyers to reassess a purchase in terms of value. Liverpool's adidas-made authentic jersey is priced at
₹ 8,599 in India, for the home and away versions
Momentum is a big deal for phone brands, as it is for the broader market trajectory. Vivo's continued to gain, with a sizable (19% share; a 23.5% increase from 2Q24) lead over Samsung (14.5% share; a 21% increase) and Oppo (13.4% share; a 25.4% increase). Apple has gained 19.7% in the year-to-year period comparison, with 2Q25 share at 7.5%, up from 6.7% in 2Q24.
The worrying negative trajectory? There's Xiaomi, which the IDC numbers peg at a 9.6% share in 2Q25, a 23.5% decline compared with the 3.5% share at the same point in the last year. Xiaomi may well have been hurt by the increasing average selling price, since the company's Redmi phones (which bring the volume and scale) have consistently stepped up over the past couple of generations, into higher price points. Are users not liking that?
I'd be worried about OnePlus too, which from an already fairly low base of 4.4% share last year, has dipped 39.4% to 2.5% share in 2Q25. The average selling price increase doesn't hurt OnePlus, who have traditionally been strong in the more premium price bands. What gives? Difficult to assess, considering their latest flagships are on point, and tend to undercut the more expensive Samsung Galaxy and Xiaomi 15 series options, in variance. The Nord series too, seems to be ticking the boxes on specs, appeal and experience. Wonder what gives?
TECH SPOTLIGHT: ADIDAS' LIVERPOOL JERSEY 25/26
This weekend, the new Premier League season gets underway. The rivalry can resume, any banter inevitably dialled up. As we get closer to kick-off (Liverpool vs Bournemouth is the first fixture), there's something important we must chat about. Jerseys. In European football for the new season, there are two important kit supplier deals — Liverpool x adidas (for the third time in their history), and Manchester City with Puma. I'll focus on the former, for reasons that are understandable without any need for explanation. And to that point, must note that Liverpool and adidas is beginning a 10-year partnership — good timing for both parties, with Liverpool as defending Premier League champions.
There's an 'authentic' jersey ( ₹8,599 in India), in home and away versions, which I'll focus on first. The primary material is the 160g Jacquard with weft knitting — this means the yarn runs horizontally across the fabric instead of the more common warp knitting that finds its way vertically. The Jacquard fabric has its advantages in football jerseys. First, this allows different knit densities while having a single continuous panel, which helps in the creation of extra breathable areas of a jersey and more support where the structure needs it. And it shows, as you wear the jersey. Secondly, weight reduction while not compromising strategic elasticity, though any grams shaved off will be more apparent to elite athletes than us mortals.
The fan jersey (priced ₹5,999) uses a tech called AEROREADY, which has one core idea of keeping you dry and cool. The way this works is, a Hydrophilic finish (this is an additional treatment to absorb water instead of collecting beads) on fiber draws moisture off your skin and spreads it for quicker evaporation. Great if you regularly play or run wearing this jersey.
Relative to last season's authentic player-spec jersey from the Nike era, performance philosophy is understandably familiar but adidas' tooling is very different. Nike's Dri-FIT ADV tech used athlete-mapped, open-hole zones to push airflow through high-heat areas. Instead, adidas uses different and more refined ways to get to the same outcome, with micro-venting and redone fabric architecture. It also marks an evolution from Liverpool's previous adidas generation (2011/12 season), when ClimaCool was the standard. Back then the focus was a blend of moisture control and simple ventilation channels.
Just for record, the Liverpool home kit is called Strawberry Red, and the white away kit, Wonder White. Liverpool had last partnered with adidas for the kit, in 2012. The classic Liver Bird crest is back.
SPIRITUALITY AND DATA
CEO of Incedo
There are very few folks who balance knowledge with philosophy just right. Last week, when writer Nitin Seth invited me for the launch of his third book, Human Edge in the AI Age, there was little chance I'd miss the chance to have a conversation with him about all things artificial intelligence. Why? Because this book, as Seth told me, completes the trifecta as he had envisioned — digital age, data and now AI (Winning in the Digital Age and Mastering the Data Paradox, his previous titles). Mind you, Human Edge in the AI Age is releasing soon on more Indian languages, starting with Hindi, in a few months time.
The chapter I was most interested in? Mantra 3, Connect with the self through spirituality. 'There's noise all around us. At that time, looking inwards at oneself is very important, and that's how I define spirituality,' he says. Seth talks about the elusive peace (something you may have felt too, but perhaps not realised in as many words). He believes there's a need to balance artha (prosperity), kama (pleasure) with dharma (duty, right way, natural law) and moksha (liberation), to make something meaningful of our lives. A line that stands out — 'as AI automates more functions and accelerates our external world, our inner world needs greater attention'. And to that, Seth elaborates that finding balance between spirituality and materialism is the answer to our current crisis whether it is at the level of an individual, the organisation or on a larger scale, the nation. It is spirituality that can provide a deeper perspective. The reason for this? Seth says the differentiator in the coming years may well not be the access to information, but our ability to interpret it, reflect and act with wisdom.
Key takeaways? Pause for self reflection, align action with values, practice mindfulness, prioritise wisdom over information and balance ambition with inner peace.
BROADBAND LANDSCAPE
Opensignal
Our regular readers would have noted we periodically chat about the mobile, and broadband landscape of the country. For this, certain reports other than official regulatory numbers that arrive periodically, tend to be useful in illustrating a trend. Network measurement and insights platform Opensignal's latest Fixed Broadband Experience report (it's here, if you'd like to read it) tells us that the country's fixed broadband penetration is currently at 15%, and that this gap compared to size of the economy, is largely due to lack of last-mile infrastructure, particularly in rural areas, where more than 60% of the population lives. That is the reason I'll focus on the wireless broadband data, because that may well be the future for those who are as yet not connected to a broadband line in the traditional sense. There are specific metrics, which give us a rather interesting picture of a product cycle that is still in very early days.
