Samsung tops India premium smartphone market in 2018 first half
New Delhi, Aug 17 : South Korean giant Samsung dominated the premium smartphone segment in India in the first half of 2018 grabbing almost half the market share, a new report said on Friday.
According to CyberMedia Research (CMR) India's "Mobile Handset Review", Samsung with 48 per cent topped the premium market (Rs 30,000 and above), followed by Chinese smartphone player OnePlus with 25 per cent share and Apple at third with 22 per cent 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-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.
Samsung led the first half on the back of its partnerships with telcos and e-commerce players, and aggressive promotional push, including attractive cash back offers and exchange benefits contributing to consumer demand remaining high.
"Going forward, the new ‘budget premium' segment will see an aggressive competition from market players, including ASUS, Huawei, Vivo, OPPO and likely new entrants, such as POCO from Xiaomi, taking the fight to established market leaders like Samsung, Apple and OnePlus," added Prabhu.
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YouTuber Dhruv Rathee expands reach with regional language channels including Kannada
Popular YouTuber and influential social media figure, Dhruv Rathee, has extended his digital footprint by launching his YouTube channel in five prominent Indian regional languages. Widely recognized for his informative videos covering a spectrum of social, political, and environmental subjects in Hindi, Dhruv's latest endeavor aims to cater to a broader audience base across the country.
The newly inaugurated YouTube channels, introduced on Thursday, April 18, will feature dubbed versions of Dhruv's Hindi videos in Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Kannada, and Marathi. Among the initial offerings on these channels is the translated rendition of his recent viral video titled, “Is India becoming a dictatorship?”
Originally released in February, the aforementioned video garnered substantial attention, amassing over 24 million views. It delved into contentious topics such as the Chandigarh mayoral election, the ongoing farmers' protest, and voiced apprehensions regarding the trajectory of India's democracy. Drawing comparisons to regimes like North Korea, the video also scrutinized the functioning of India's Election Commission, raising concerns about the state of democracy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership.
However, the video's critical stance attracted criticism from supporters of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with some dismissing Dhruv's perspective due to his residence in Germany. In response, Dhruv addressed BJP supporters, urging them to approach the video with an open mind. He emphasized that personal attacks on him were merely distractions, urging viewers to focus on the underlying issues at hand. “The real issue is something very serious if you truly care about the nation. Wake up!” he asserted.
Launching in 5 Indian Languages today!
— Dhruv Rathee (@dhruv_rathee) April 18, 2024
Share with your friends from these states! The most important video is already live on these channels.
Tamil-https://t.co/iIAY46UONr
Telugu- https://t.co/uHUFmMWOY2
Bengali-https://t.co/Ps41JJ8VuC
Kannada-https://t.co/UTgIvoU8bf… pic.twitter.com/vuKfLctR8h
