OnePlus has overtaken Apple and Samsung as the best-selling smartphone brand in India’s premium category, according to a newly published report.
Counterpoint Research says the flagship-killing brand toppled the smartphone world’s biggest two names for the first time for a full quarter. Overall, OnePlus enjoyed 40% of this market beating Samsung at 34%.
In terms of individual handsets, the OnePlus 6 earned 30% of the Indian premium market during Q2 2018 (April-June), way ahead of the Galaxy S9 Plus, which had only 12%. The OnePlus 5T was in third place of all handsets costing above INR 30,000 (around £333/$437).
That represents sales growth of 446% in the segment for OnePlus, based upon the performance during the same period last year (via 9to5Google).
Apple had an unimpressive quarter in the Indian market with its share falling to just 14% of the premium market overall. That’s down to a decline in shipments of the iPhone 8 and X series phones.
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The success is reward for OnePlus, which has placed a lot of focus on growing its fanbase in India. The firm has offered fans access to Avengers and Star Wars-themed variants of the 5T and 6 devices, which haven’t been available in the UK and the United States. It was also among the first nations to get access to the 5T phone in Lava Red.
Elsewhere there was some better news for Samsung in India. It has regained the lead in overall share of the smartphone market, with 29% of sales overall compared to Xiaomi’s 28%. However, further evidence sales of its flagship handsets are diminishing is unlikely to go over too well with the firm’s shareholders.
Can the Galaxy Note 9 or Galaxy S10 arrest the slide? Or will it be down to the foldable phone or the rumoured gaming centric Galaxy X to put the firm back on top?
Have you replaced your flagship Samsung phone with a OnePlus 6? Share your story with us @TrustedReviews on Twitter.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
