iPhone XR was the top selling smartphone of 2019: Who else made the list?

There were only three flagship smartphones in the list of the 20 top selling phones of 2019. Read on to know which ones they were

By: HT CORRESPONDENT
| Updated on: Aug 20 2022, 18:40 IST
According to Counterpoint Research’s list, Apple’s iPhone XR was the top selling phone of 2019. Of the 10 smartphones that made the cut, only three were flagship devices. The rest seven were mid-tier smartphones.
According to Counterpoint Research’s list, Apple’s iPhone XR was the top selling phone of 2019. Of the 10 smartphones that made the cut, only three were flagship devices. The rest seven were mid-tier smartphones. (REUTERS)

According to Counterpoint Research's list, Apple's iPhone XR was the top selling phone of 2019. Of the 10 smartphones that made the cut, only three were flagship devices. The rest seven were mid-tier smartphones.

The iPhone XR came in first followed by two Samsung Galaxy A series smartphones (A10 and A50), the Oppo A9 and the iPhone 11 - that's your top five. Then came another one by Oppo - the Oppo A5s - followed by Samsung Galaxy A20, Oppo A5, Xiaomi 7A and finally, the Huawei P30.

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Huawei P30, at spot 10 is the only other flagship device on the list, besides the Apple ones.

Not sure which
mobile to buy?
(Counterpoint)
image caption
(Counterpoint)

And if you remember right, the iPhone XR was priced premium at launch, Apple adjusted prices in China and other markets (Indian markets saw a price cut earlier this year) and that is what helped Apple maintain a strong demand for the smartphone.

The mid-tier offerings from companies like Samsung and Oppo ruled and proliferated this list because of their "improving capabilities of devices in the mid-tier over the last year", Counterpoint explained in their report. The research firm also pointed out that the 2018 version of the top selling phones' list had five flagship devices on it.

The fact that mid-tier devices are "selling more" also reduced the overall "wholesale revenue" of the top 10 models by 30% year-on-year, according to Counterpoint. However, the company pointed out that the volume contribution of the top 10 models to the total global smartphone sales increased by 9% year-on-year, making for 17% of the total sales.

India has been witness to a steadily growing mid-tier smartphone market for a while now. The fact that India also accounts for a pretty large part of the global smartphone market also explains why this list looks the way it does.

A second quarter report by the International Data Corporation (IDC) noted that the average selling price for smartphones in India was between $159 and $200. In terms of smartphone prices in the US, this price bracket would qualify for budget or low-end devices. Phones like the iPhone 11 Pro, Samsung's Galaxy series are sold in the $1000 and above range in the US, in fact, the iPhone XR was launched in the $700-$900 range there, originally.

IDC also noted in their report that the $200 to $300 segment was the fastest growing segment, while the $400 to $600 segment was the second fastest. This $400 to $600 segment is where mid-tier phones like Samsung's A series, OnePlus' OnePlus 7 series and others fall in. In India, we usually put these in the premium segment.

While OnePlus leads the "premium" space in India, the company is known for making phones that provide flagship features at a considerably lower price than what Apple, Samsung or Google charge.

Market leader Xiaomi, also took note of this segment in 2019. The company launched a phone called the Redmi K20 Pro, which used Qualcomm's flagship processor, the Snapdragon 855, and had three cameras on the back. This is the same processor that runs on phones like the Google Pixel 3 and OnePlus 7.

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First Published Date: 31 Dec, 19:48 IST
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