India accounted for about 1/3rd revenue in 2017: OnePlus

India accounted for about one-third of OnePlus' revenues last year and is set to become the "second home ground" for the premium smartphone maker, its chief executive Pete Lau said today.

OnePlus led the premium smartphone segment (Rs 30,000 and above) in India with 40 per cent market share in the June quarter (2018), helped by record shipments of its OnePlus 6 handset as compared to its previous smartphones, according to Counterpoint Research.

"Last year, for the first time, we hit the USD 1 billion revenue mark and this year, with the OnePlus 6, it managed to sell 1 million units in 22 days. India, as a market, has emerged as a frontrunner in what has been an incredible journey, making for almost one-third of the company's revenue in 2017," Lau said in a blogpost.

 

He added that the Indian market is "now set to become our second home ground, a centre for product innovation. Our new R&D centre in India is just the beginning".

He recounted that the company had not launched its maiden flagship in India first in 2013.

"Despite not being officially present in India, we already had people purchasing the product from European and North American markets to take back home," he said, adding that this response made the company "take a leap of faith" with the Indian market.

He also highlighted that "India is today a community that is our eye to the globe, a soundboard for experimentation through which we understand the pulse of the customer at a global level".

While the Counterpoint report did not disclose the number of devices shipped under the premium segment, market experts estimate that quarterly smartphone shipments range between 1-1.5 million units.

Korean tech major Samsung captured 34 per cent share of the premium smartphone segment in India in the June quarter, while Apple's share was at 14 per cent - the lowest for the US brand.

These three brands contributed to 88 per cent of the premium handset market as compared to 95 per cent a quarter ago.