Samsung leads India's premium smartphone segment with 48% share in H1 2018

Samsung dominated the premium smartphone segment in India in the first half of 2018 with almost half the market share, a new report from CyberMedia Research (CMR) said on 17 August.

According to CMR India’s ‘Mobile Handset Review’ report, Samsung (48 percent) was followed by Chinese smartphone player OnePlus , which grabbed the second spot with 25 percent share, and Apple with 22 percent share.

“The premium smartphone segment, though small, is driven by aspirational, tech-savvy millennials and in the coming years, will continue to grow significantly. Samsung’s flagship S9 helped it garner a lion’s share of the premium smartphone segment,” Prabhu Ram, head of industry intelligence group, CMR, said in a statement.

One in two premium smartphones shipped in the first half of 2018 was a Samsung device.

“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,” added Ram.

During the first half of 2018, OnePlus introduced its “OnePlus Experience Stores” and is planning to embrace offline in a big way, to complement its strong online presence.

The iPhone-maker suffered a decline in demand for its iPhones due to pricing challenges on account of post-duty increase.

“Apple is reworking its India strategy for the all-important second half of 2018, with new retail partnerships, first-party stores and service overhauling with India-focused apps and services, including refreshed Apple Maps ,” said Narinder Kumar, lead analyst-industry intelligence group, CMR.