Samsung leads Indian premium smartphone segment in H1 2020: CMR report

Samsung accounted for 37% of the market share in the premium segment with major boost from its Galaxy A71 and Galaxy A51 smartphones.

Samsung Galaxy A71. (Samsung)

The Indian smartphone market saw a dead month in April but it soon gained momentum as lockdown restrictions were removed. For smartphones in the premium segment, shipments grew by 18% YoY in H1 2020 with Samsung leading in India, according to CMR's latest data.

The premium smartphone market caters to phones priced between ₹25,000 and ₹50,000. In total, this segment occupied 5% of the total smartphone shipments in H1 2020. Samsung led with a 37% market share with its Galaxy A71 contributing 19% to the overall market share. For this segment specifically, the Galaxy A71 had 38% market share followed by Galaxy A51 with 13%. Samsung's “good supply side dynamics, attractive discounts and smart channel strategies” helped the company dominate the premium segment, according to the CMR report.

“Owing to the pandemic, H1 2020 was a tough period for the overall smartphone industry in general, with multiple challenges. However, the premium smartphone segment was one of the least affected segments. In fact, the segment grew owing to strong consumer demand and good supply-side dynamics,” said Anand Priya Singh, Analyst – Industry Intelligence Group (IIG), CMR.

Premium smartphone shipments. (CMR)

Premium smartphone shipments. (CMR)

Samsung was followed by Apple with 26% market share, and OnePlus with 27%. Apple launched the iPhone SE in India this April at a starting price of ₹42,500. iPhone SE managed to grab 8% market share in the premium segment, and is expected to repeat the iPhone 11's performance in India. Apple was however the leader in the super premium smartphone segment ( ₹50,000- ₹1,00,000) with 56% market share. iPhone 11 was the bestseller in this category.

Apple was also the leader in the uber premium smartphone segment with a 67% market share. Here, the iPhone 11 Pro led Apple to the top accounting 40% of the overall shipments. Samsung came second in both the super premium and uber premium segments with 34% and 30% market share respectively.