South Korean Samsung dominates almost 50% of India's premium smartphone segment

Leaving all its competitors behind in the premium smartphone segment, South Korea's mobile behemoth Samsung has grabbed almost half of the market share in first half of 2018.

Samsung ruled the premium market (Rs 30000 and above) with around 48 percent market share. Second and third positions were grabbed by OnePlus (25 percent)and Apple (22 percent), according to CyberMedia Research (CMR) India report quoted by ET.

The premium smartphone segment appeals to the young generation and is expected to grow further in the next few years. About 90 per cent of millennials and other professionals seek speed and agility while making their next smartphone purchase. Samsung S9 claimed a larger premium smartphone segment with aggressive promotional push and telecom partnership.

In last year second half, Apple dominated the premium segment with 51 per cent market share whereas Samsung had less than half of the current number 21 per cent. This year Apple share shrunk to 22 per cent majorly due to its post-duty increase. The company is reworking its strategy to back on track in the second half.

Oneplus, meanwhile, in the last three half has shown positive growth. From 10 per cent in first half in 2017, it has climbed up to 25 per cent this year with its strong online and offline presence.

Prabhu Ram, Head-Industry Intelligence Group, CMR said the success of OnePlus 6 can be traced to the intelligent brand strategy of packing the best specs at competitive price points, contributing to the emergence of a new 'budget premium' smartphone segment under sub-Rs 30,000.

The new budget segment will see an aggressive competition from market players, including ASUS, Huawei, Vivo, OPPO and likely new entrants, such as POCO from Xiaomi.

59 per cent of the smartphone market in India is accounted for by replacements or upgrades as against 41% new buyers. Out of the total replacements, over 95% are moving to the next price level, the report added.

In smartphone brand, Samsung is also on top spot with a 29 per cent market share compared to the 28 per cent held by Xiaomi, according to data from Counterpoint Research.