OnePlus led the India premium smartphone market in 2019 with 2 Mn shipments

The premium smartphone market in India has undergone a transformation in the past three to four years. While other smartphone makers including Vivo, Oppo, and Xiaomi have been battling against each other, OnePlus has undoubtedly cemented itself as the leading premium smartphone in India.

According to the latest report provided by CounterPoint Research, OnePlus has captured one-third of India's premium segment with a 33% market share in 2019.

The Shenzhen-based company has attained the position of being the number one premium brand in India by crossing two million shipments and attaining a growth of 28%  in 2019.

Samsung, on the other hand, slid to the second position with a 26% market share, while Apple dropped down to third with a 25% market share.

That said, Apple grew the fastest at 41% yearly growth driven by multiple price cuts on iPhone XR throughout the year. OnePlus stood second on this at 25% growth owing to its growing portfolio of products largely driven by  OnePlus 7 Pro.

Besides, Samsung’s ultra-premium segment shipments grew by 24% YoY and the segment’s contribution to Samsung’s overall premium shipments reached 79% in 2019, compared to 62% in 2018, added the report.

Meanwhile, Chinese behemoth BBK Group, the parent company of OPPO, Vivo, and Realme also emerged as a strong performer capturing about a 35% share of the Indian smartphone market through all its brands.

In 2019, the sales of the iPhone improved largely due to strong demand, the company's effective promotion strategy on its latest iPhone models including the iPhone11 series and iPhone XR. This year is expected to be even stronger for Apple as it is manufacturing iPhones on a Completely Knocked Down (CKD) basis — which means that it would take place in the country it plans to sell in.

The report further counted price cuts, upgrade plans, EMI offers, among others, as the growth driving factors and expects more Indian consumers to upgrade to premium devices this year.

Recently, another research firm 'Canalys' also provided a report, per which Xiaomi was leading the Indian smartphone market with a 29% market share at 42.9 million shipments.

Last month in an attempt to capture a new market share, OnePlus had also announced its plans of making India a major development hub for 5G with a broader focus on the global markets in 2020.