- India’s premium smartphone segment starts with smartphones more than INR 30,000.
- This segment grew 29% year-on-year which is a record high growth.
- Aggressive offers, time to a time price cut and user upgrades are the main reasons behind this phenomenal growth.
2019 was “the year” for OnePlus which grabbed a topmost position in India’s premium smartphone market. It was the first time that the smartphone managed to remain at the topmost position for the entire year.
A report rolled out by counterpoint highlights that the company grew by 28% in terms of shipments and occupied 1/3rd of India’s premium smartphone market.
What Makes OnePlus No.1 in Premium Smartphone Market?
Perhaps worth asking! If you take a deep dive into how the company’s R&D works you will notice that OnePlus’s uniqueness lies here.
The smartphone brand has been constantly listening to its user feedbacks and implementing it in its product innovation.
Do you know that the company has a huge community of tech enthusiasts where there are regular discussions about its product innovation?
This is something different. With customer platforms like “OnePlus Community” the smartphone brand makes sure to listen to its users and come up with a device that exceeds their expectations.
Some game-changing innovations include – the adoption of a high refresh rate (90Hz). The first smartphone to launch Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855 Series application processor in India.
All these innovations took birth in OnePlus Community and carefully nurtured in OnePlus’s R&D labs!
What is the scene of the premium smartphone market now?
OnePlus became 1st smartphone (premium) brand to cross 2 million shipments in a year. Coming to Samsung which slipped to 3rd spot in smartphone market share, declined 2 percentage points YoY in the premium smartphone market in India.
Samsung’s Galaxy S10 Plus was the top-selling flagship for the company last year which contributed to Samsung’s ultra-premium segment shipments grew by 24% YoY. Samsung’s overall shipments reached 79% last year (as compared to 62% in 2018).
Competition coming from OnePlus and affordable premium offering from Oppo (Reno series), Asus (6Z) and Xiaomi (Redmi K20 Pro) ate Samsung’s premium smartphone market share. To give it a fight, Samsung launched a lite version of Galaxy S10 Lite and Note 10 Lite.
Apple was the fastest growing premium smartphone brand in 2019 with 41% YoY driven by multiple price cuts on iPhone XR throughout the year. Apple iPhone XR was no.1 ultra-premium smartphone model in India.
This year Apple Inc saw the fastest rollout of its new iPhone 11 with aggressive pricing and channel strategy. 2020 might be a game-changer for Apple in the premium smartphone market in India but for now, OnePlus playing above and beyond Apple Inc.
Ending Note:
Pete Lau, founder, and CEO of OnePlus said in a forum that the young market is now set to become the company’s 2nd home ground and a center for product innovation.
OnePlus is now increasing it’s the point of sale by launching offline and exclusive stores across key cities. Instead of relying on deep-pocketed marketing campaigns, OnePlus took word-of-mouth way to create a hype among smartphone users.
The company also promised to give back to the community its journey from the beginning by giving due diligence to its OnePlus community. The company announced deals on one plus.in and exclusive offers for buyers on Amazon as 6 months NO-COST EMI, 1500 cashback on ICICI bank credit card and a plethora of other offers to woo smartphone users.
