Check Out the New Leader in Indian Premium Smartphone Segment pushing past Samsung and iPhone 

In new developments which represent a potential transitional shift in smartphone user preference in India, there has been a new leader in the premium smartphones segment. Another notable aspect is the fact that e-tailers have been active in driving smartphone shipments which now have almost equalled that of feature phones.

As per IDC, that has compiled overall shipment figures for Q3 2018, both feature phone and smartphone shipments are now equally balanced with equal contributions to the generalized Indian mobile phones segment.

Emergence of a new leader

Now, the most important aspect resulting out of the latest IDC research is the fact that Chinese smartphone brand OnePlus has seemingly surpassed that if Apple and Samsung in the premium smartphone shipments category. This is notable considering the fact that Chinese brands are now present more than before in the Indian smartphone market thereby creating a healthy competition for supremacy within the minds of the Indian consumer.

The OnePlus 6 has supposedly turned out to be the most sold device in the country in Q3 2018; as far as OnePlus premium smartphones are concerned. This led to OnePlus possessing nearly 37% of the market share, clearly ahead of Apple (30%) and Samsung (26%).

Strong e-commerce activities and community have been attributed to the new trend. Comparatively proactive interactions on social media have also apparently contributed to OnePlus overtaking Apple and Samsung .

As far as the overall smartphones market is concerned, Xiaomi shipped 11.7 million units to account for nearly 28% of market share; Samsung at nearly 23% market dominance (9.6 million units) was still behind Xiaomi. Other entries in this list include Vivo (4.5 million units), Micromax (2.9 million units), and Oppo (2.9 million units).

Feature phones still finding preference

Apparently, even from the latest IDC research, it is evident that feature phones are still relevant as far as buying preferences of Indian consumers and the purchase parameters are concerned.  Shipments, here, accounted for 43.1 million units registering growth of 2.1% year-on-year.

As if to add substance to these reports, Nokia (by HMD Global) very recently introduced a new Nokia 106 (2018) that is slated to hit Indian shores with a sub INR 2000 price tag. USP of this phone is its cost apart from a claimed talktime of 16 hours and 3 week standby time. Though a standard 2G phone, the 2018 Nokia 106 edition could potentially do well to compete with Reliance Jio’s JioPhone range in the brands vs affordability debate.