Xiaomi most preferred smartphone brand in Rs 10K-15K price tier, OnePlus tops Rs 25,000 - Rs 40,000 segment: Counterpoint

With a whopping 65 percent share, Xiaomi is the most preferred brand for users for their next smartphone purchase in the Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 price segment owing to value-for-money and brand awareness. Samsung is the second most loved brand in this category with 43 percent, followed by Vivo and Oppo with 29. When it comes to the Rs 25,000 - Rs 40,000 segment, no rewards for guessing that OnePlus leads it with 55 percent, followed by Xiaomi at 47 percent, Apple with 45 percent and Samsung at 39 percent. Counterpoint Research says that it conducted primary consumer survey through a randomly selected sample of over 700 respondents from India to understand mobile user behaviors, usage patterns, preferences, level of satisfaction and future purchase intentions. “Within the sweet-spot price segment of Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000, Xiaomi is the most preferred brand for consumers’ next purchase, with target users mainly the ones upgrading to their second smartphone. OnePlus is the preferred brand in the fast growing Rs 25,000 to Rs 40,000 segment, where consumers are looking for premium experiences at affordable price-points. There is strong competition to acquire mature smartphone users and we see Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) becoming more aggressive and offering a stronger value proposition in these two important price segments,” Tarun Pathak, Associate Director at Counterpoint, said on the consumer preferences for different brands. When it comes to the purchase intention for their next smartphone, the Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 price segment is the most favoured category with 34 percent users preferring it. The segment is followed by the Rs 15,000 - Rs 25,000 at 19 percent, and Rs 8,000 - Rs 10,000 at 16 percent. Interestingly, only 3 percent people want to spend more than Rs 40,000 on their next smartphone. It may imply that people are weighing necessary features more than the premium features and are going for value-for-money devices. “Mobile phone users in India are becoming more sophisticated as many of them are on their second or third smartphone. OEMs are competing aggressively to get a larger share of the fast-growing market and, as a result, we have seen advanced features diffusing through the mid-tier segment faster than ever before and users are finding these features attractive enough to upgrade. For example, it took less than six months for some of the key flagship features of 2018 to reach the mid-tier. This is likely the reason that one in three respondents in our survey are planning to spend Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 on their next smartphone purchase,” Pavel Naiya, Senior Analyst, Consumer Lens, added. OnePlus tops the smartphone satisfaction index list with 94 percent of its users satisfied by its phones’ overall performance. This also results in the highest retention rate of 88 percent among all Android OEMs with its value-for-money offerings. It is followed by Vivo (90 percent), Oppo (84 percent), Samsung (82 percent) and Xiaomi (81 percent). Counterpoint Research says that overall 79 percent of smartphone users are satisfied with their phones. “We found that four in five users are satisfied with their current smartphone. OnePlus leads the satisfaction index and retention rate among all Android OEMs. Overall, Xiaomi was the preferred brand for future purchases followed by Samsung and OnePlus. However, not many users are sticking to the same brand when it comes to their next purchase. This reflects the fact that in a competitive market like India there is no guarantee that loyalty will be sustained, which is an opportunity for all the key OEMs," Peter Richardson, Research Director at Counterpoint Research, said. Tit-bits 1) The purchase intention for Xiaomi smartphones was highest in Haryana, and Punjab. 2) OnePlus purchase Intention was highest in Karnataka and Maharashtra 3) Camera remains as one of the key features that users look for in their devices. 4) Vivo is getting stronger in Southern India with highest purchase intention coming from Tamil Nadu. 5) A total of 72 percent of respondents prefer Apple as their next smartphone brand in the $600 and above segment. 6) In terms of channels, Amazon has managed to build greater loyalty than rivals through leveraging its popular and Amazon Prime program and 68 percent of Amazon users are likely to prefer Amazon as the preferred channel for their next purchase. 7) WhatsApp and Paytm topped the most installed apps for communication and commerce. Hotstar is leading for video streaming, Jio Music for music streaming and UC Browser for web browsing. (Consumer Lens is Counterpoint Research’s global research programme that aims to help the industry better understand the consumer’s perspective across different markets, channels and product categories.)

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