Most premium phones sold in Q2 are iPhones

Sep 20, 2018 11:31 GMT  ·  By

New data published by Counterpoint Research highlights what we already knew: Apple is the leader of the premium phone segment, having nearly double the share of the runner-up.

In the second quarter of the year, iPhones accounted for 43 percent of all premium phones, followed by Samsung with 24 percent. OPPO, Huawei, and Xiaomi are far behind with 10, 9, and 3 percent, respectively.

The premium smartphone market actually improved 7 percent, whereas total smartphone sales dropped 1 percent during the quarter. However, the growth was mostly the result of companies like OPPO, Vivo, and Huawei expanding in this market.

There are several interesting achievements for smaller companies, like OnePlus, in specific markets. In India, for instance, OnePlus became the fastest growing brand in the $400 to $600 segment.

“OnePlus sales were driven by India, China and UK. In India it surpassed Apple and Samsung to become the #1 premium smartphone OEM during the quarter with a strong 40% market share. It was also amongst the top five premium smartphone OEMs in France (#4), Germany (#4), Italy (#5), Netherlands (#4), Sweden (#3) and UK (#4) due to strong initial sales of the OnePlus 6,” the research shows.

Apple, top premium brand

On the other hand, Apple is clearly the leading brand in the $800 segment where only Samsung and Huawei are also deeply involved. No less than 88 percent of the phones priced in this range and sold during the second quarter were iPhones.

At the same time, Apple and Samsung accounted for 85 percent of all smartphone sales in the $600 to $800 price range, with Huawei taking the third place at huge distance.

Apple recorded the best sales in the United States, China, Japan, Korea, and Western Europe, and Counterpoint says that Samsung dropped in the $600 to $800 price range mostly due to the Galaxy S9, which performed below expectations.