Riding on its OnePlus 7 series, Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus led the Indian premium smartphone market in 2019 with 33 per cent market share. The company became the first-ever premium smartphone brand surpassing 20 lakh shipments in a year in India.
Samsung with 26 per cent was second while Apple with 25 per cent market share came third in the premium segment, according to Counterpoint Research’s ‘Market Monitor Service for 2019.’ Apple was the fastest growing premium smartphone brand in 2019 with 41 per cent (YoY) driven by multiple price cuts on iPhone XR throughout the year.
Overall, the premium smartphone segment in India (above Rs 30,000) registered its highest ever recorded shipments this year, growing 29 per cent in the year.
“2019 has been a remarkable year for us at OnePlus. Every milestone we have achieved strengthened our pursuit for excellence in technology. We will remain dedicated towards creating burden-less and best-in-class user experience,” said Pete Lau, Founder and CEO, OnePlus.
OnePlus 7 emerged as the number one premium smartphone model in 2019. The contribution of OnePlus’ ultra-premium segment to overall OnePlus portfolio grew to a whopping 25 per cent in 2019 — from just 2 per cent in 2018.
According to Karn Chauhan, Research Analyst, Counterpoint Research, OnePlus’ ongoing retail expansion in India can be attributed to the increased sales volumes.
“Its recent partnerships with renowned retail distributors, as well as successfully extending its unique premium brand experience to retail customers through OnePlus Experience Centers, have played a crucial role in its growth,” said Chauhan.
Similarly, the ultra-premium segment (above Rs 45,000) emerged as the fastest growing segment with 63 per cent (YoY) growth.
“OnePlus continues to enjoy strong word of mouth communication from existing users, which also led the brand to have over 5 million strong community in India alone, a substantial number for a premium tech brand,” said Chauhan.
Examples of innovations include its adoption of high refresh rate (90Hz), almost bezel-less displays and being first to launch smartphones with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855 Series application processor in India.
