Huawei Share in Global Premium Smartphone Market Hits Double Digits for First Time: Counterpoint

Driven by its P20 series shipments, Chinese smartphone maker Huawei's share in the global premium smartphone segment hit double digits for the first time in the third quarter of 2018, according to Counterpoint Research.

At a rate of over 19 percent, the global, premium smartphone segment grew faster than the overall smartphone segment that declined five percent in Q3 2018, according to Counterpoint Research's Market Monitor Q3 2018 report.

Apple led the global premium smartphone segment capturing 47 percent share of the segment, followed by Samsung (22 percent), Huawei (12 percent), Vivo (five percent ), Oppo (five percent) and Xiaomi (three per cent), Tarun Pathak, Associate Director at Counterpoint Technology Market Research, wrote in a blog post on Saturday. 

In India, OnePlus continued to lead the premium smartphone segment for the second successive quarter capturing 30 percent of the market driven by the strong performance of its OnePlus 6. 

OnePlus is followed by Samsung, Apple, Asus, and Huawei as the top five smartphone brands in the country.

While the premium segment growth for Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi was driven by performances in China, for OnePlus and Huawei, growth was generated outside China, Pathak said. 

"Going forward, we estimate that the premium smartphone segment will grow in Q4 2018 driven by a full quarter of sales of new iPhones," Pathak said.

"In terms of distribution, premium brands sales are skewed in favour of offline retail," he added.