A battle in the premium smartphone segment is brewing up for a long time now. A few days ago, it was announced that OnePlus is leading the premium smartphone market in India, however, Chinese players like Xiaomi, Vivo and Huawei are now trying hard to beat the dominance of OnePlus, Samsung as well as Apple.
Every smartphone maker is making valuable efforts to lead the premium space. Samsung this month will be launching the latest Note 9 smartphone, and further devices from OnePlus, Vivo, Huawei and Xiaomi, through the latter’s sub-brand Poco will also be introduced in the upcoming festive season.
The festive season in India starts from October and accounts for at least a third to a handset maker’s annual revenue in the country.
“The $500 premium segment has been traditionally split between Apple and Samsung in India,” said Navkendar Singh, an associate director with International Data Corp. “With new players like OnePlus… successfully carving a niche in the $500-700 segment, other players like Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi, Huawei are sensing an opportunity.”
Xiaomi’s India head and international vice president, Manu Jain stated that Xiaomi’s sub-brand Poco is focused on the high-end space which aims at leveraging the rising average selling price (ASP) for smartphones in India.
Karn Chauhan, research analyst at Counterpoint Research exclaimed that majority of the smartphone launches will be in the price segment of Rs 30,000-40,000. It seems that the Chinese smartphone makers are trying their best to capture the Indian premium smartphone market. These players already rule the price segment of Rs 10,000-20,000 and are now reaching greater heights.
The premium segment grew 19 percent from the previous year and 10 percent sequentially in the second quarter when OnePlus excelled Samsung to become the leader.