At third position, Apple had 23 per cent market share as the overall premium smartphone segment grew by 8 per cent (year-on-year) for the full year and 16 per cent (YoY) for Q4 2018.
OnePlus recorded its highest-ever shipments in a single quarter (Q4), capturing 36 per cent market share to lead the premium smartphone segment for three successive quarters.
"OnePlus 6 was the best selling premium model throughout 2018 in terms of shipment as well as in retail value. OnePlus 6T was positioned at second place followed by Samsung S9 Plus," said Karn Chauhan, Research Analyst at Counterpoint.
According to Vikas Agarwal, General Manager, OnePlus India, it has emerged as the best-selling premium smartphone brand owing to the focus on sharing the best technology with its consumers.
"Last year, we expanded in the offline segment through our 'Experience Stores' and through partners such as Croma and Reliance Digital in order to create more touch points for customers to engage with the brand," Agarwal told IANS.
Samsung captured 26 per cent share of the premium segment and its shipments grew 72 per cent (YoY) in Q4 2018.
"The newly-launched Galaxy A9, the world's first quad rear camera phone, in Rs 30,000-40,000 price segment attributed towards Samsung's growth, which is in direct competition with OnePlus," said the report.
Apple's premium segment shipments declined 25 per cent (YoY) in Q4 2018 mainly due to extreme high premium-commanding pricing for iPhones as Apple continues to choose to pay 20 per cent import duty on new imported iPhones instead of manufacturing in India.
"As a result, we believe Apple to start manufacturing locally for latest iPhones in 2019 and beyond to potentially lower the current higher iPhone pricing," said Chauhan.
The top three brands -- OnePlus, Samsung and Apple -- contributed to 92 per cent of the overall premium market in Q4 2018.
The development of "OnePlus TV" comes as a "natural extension" for the company with the aim to address the gaps in the TV segment and balance high-quality minimalistic hardware with the latest technology, the company said in a statement.
"With this new division, we're excited to explore the total connected user experience that can enhance everyday life," said Lau.
"OnePlus TV" is expected to be released in 2019.
The premium flagship design of the "OnePlus TV" would combine advanced image quality and audio experience and provide users with better "intelligent connectivity" experiences.
"Intelligent connectivity" is the culmination of the underlying data and communication technologies that can connect.
"With the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, our imagination is endless -- and we are looking forward to the future," Lau added.
As with smartphones, OnePlus is constantly listening, welcoming feedback and suggestions for what should be included in its new Smart TV, the firm said.
It is still not clear whether or not the TV would run on an existing platform like Android TV or would the company launch something new altogether.
Unlike the original OnePlus 5T which also comes in 6GB RAM and 64GB internal storage configuration, this is 8GB RAM and 128GB onboard storage variant.
"We are happy to kick-start 2018 with the much-requested OnePlus 5T 'Lava Red' edition, our first-ever red smartphone that will certainly appeal to those looking for the perfect balance of beautiful design and powerful features," Vikas Agarwal, General Manager, OnePlus India, said in a statement.
The "Lava Red" variant features the dual-camera system of 16MP+20MP rear shooter with f/1.7 aperture on both lenses.
The device is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset and sports 6-inch Full-Optic AMOLED Display with an 18:9 aspect ratio for immersive viewing experience.
Just like the original OnePlus 5T, this one also features "Dash Charge" which is the company's signature powering technology.
Registrations for this limited edition device will begin on Thursday on Amazon.in and will go on sale on January 20.
"Due to popular demand, ‘Face Unlock' feature is coming for the OnePlus 5. Thanks for the feedback," Carl Pei, co-founder, OnePlus, tweeted from his official @getpeid handle recently.
However, he did not mention a timeline for the release or whether there will be any functional differences.
Earlier in June, the Chinese handset maker had launched OnePlus 5 in two variants -- 6GB RAM and 64GB internal memory and 8GB RAM and 128GB onboard storage in India for Rs 32,999 and Rs 37,999, respectively.
The device is powered by octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor.
The smartphone features 16MP+20MP rear dual-camera combination and a 16MP front shooter. The company had claimed that OnePlus 5 has the highest smartphone camera resolution yet.
The device is fueled by 3,300mAh battery that lasts up to 20 per cent longer than its predecessor OnePlus 3T.
There is also a fingerprint scanner which doubled up as a home button and can unlock the phone in 0.2 seconds.
The company has released its first "Android Open" beta build for OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T smartphones last month and is now introducing it for OnePlus 5 that brings user interface (UI) tweaks and other useful features.
"We are super excited to announce that we are ready to kick off the 'Open Beta Program' for the OnePlus 5 today. The first 'Open Beta' build based on Android 8.0 for the OnePlus 5 is available for download now," the company wrote in a blog post on Monday.
The OS update will bring "picture-in-picture" functionality, the company's own "Parallel Apps", added notification dots and updated security patch to October.
Unlike the closed beta programme, upgrades introduced through the company's open beta channel can be availed by users and based on their experience and feedback, the company will improve the upgrades before officially rolling them out.
OnePlus 5 is powered by octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor. The handset houses 16MP + 20MP dual rear cameras and 16MP front shooter.
It is powered by 3300mAh battery and is available in midnight black and slate gray colour.
"We have seen unprecedented customer response to the early access sales, in India as well as globally. Hundreds of fans stormed our 'Experience Stores' in Bengaluru and Delhi," Vikas Agarwal, General Manager, OnePlus India, said in a statement.
"We are happy to announce that OnePlus 5T will go on open sale, starting on November 28, across all channels including Amazon.in, oneplusstore.in, select Croma stores and 'Experience Stores' in Bengaluru and Delhi," Agarwal added.
OnePlus 5T also broke the company's launch-day sales record and became the company's fastest-selling device in six hours, the company said.
The device marks the introduction of a 6-inch "Full Optic AMOLED Display" with an 18:9 aspect ratio to deliver a more immersive viewing experience.
The device features a new "Sunlight Display" that adapts automatically to harsh light.
OnePlus has moved its fingerprint sensor to the back of the device.
The OnePlus 5T comes with the same main camera as that of OnePlus 5 but also houses an improved secondary camera for superior low-light photography.
The device has super-fast Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor. The "Adreno 540 GPU" boosts graphical performance.
The 8GB device with "Face Lock" feature, 18:9 display and an enhanced low-light camera technology will be available in 64 GB and 128 GB (midnight black) variants for Rs 32,999 and Rs 37,999, respectively.
"The feedback on OnePlus 5 has been very positive, but there were some areas where we saw room for improvement to create an even better user experience," said Pete Lau, OnePlus Founder and CEO.
The device will be available in an early access sale on Amazon, oneplusstore.in and OnePlus experience store in Bengaluru on November 21. The open sales begins on November 28 in India, the European Union and the US.
"We love nothing more than offering our community the latest technology and a user experience to beat expectations. Once again, we've worked hard to refine every last detail with OnePlus 5T," Lau added.
The OnePlus 5T marks the introduction of a 6-inch "Full Optic AMOLED Display" with an 18:9 aspect ratio to deliver a more immersive viewing experience.
The device features a new "Sunlight Display" that adapts automatically to harsh light.
OnePlus has moved its fingerprint sensor to the back of the device.
The OnePlus 5T comes with the same main camera as that of OnePlus 5 but also houses an improved secondary camera for superior low-light photography.
With "Intelligent Pixel" Technology, the secondary camera merges four pixels into one, reducing noise in low-light environments and enhancing clarity.
OnePlus' operating system, OxygenOS, offers a refined Android experience that is faster than other Android experiences.
"OxygenOS" has "Face Unlock" feature which allows users to unlock the device just by looking at it. "Face Unlock" uses over 100 identifiers to unlock the OnePlus 5T.
The phone, like its predecessors, comes with "Dash Charge" technology. A quick half-hour charge gives the OnePlus 5T enough power for the day.
The device has super-fast Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor. The "Adreno 540 GPU" boosts graphical performance.
According to International Data Corporation's (IDC) latest Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker 2017 Q3, OnePlus captured 12 per cent share of the premium smartphone shipments in India during the first quarter and the share has more than doubled to 28 per cent in just two quarters.
"When we began developing the OnePlus 5, we envisioned a smartphone with flawlessly smooth performance. We are proud to announce the OnePlus 5 will feature the Snapdragon 835 processor, which sets the foundation for smooth, powerful, and efficient performance," said Pete Lau, Founder and CEO, OnePlus, in a blog post.
Launched in January, the Snapdragon 835 is designed to support next-generation entertainment experiences and connected Cloud services for premium consumer and enterprise devices, including smartphones, VR/AR head-mounted displays, IP cameras, tablets, mobile PCs and other devices running a variety of operating systems, including Android and Windows 10, with support for legacy Win32 apps.
The mobile platform is 35 per cent smaller in package size and consumes 25 per cent less power compared to the previous generation flagship processor, which equates to longer battery life and thinner designs.
"OnePlus creates every smartphone as if it is creating a piece of art and not just making a mass-produced product. All of OnePlus smartphones have so far been powered by premium Snapdragon mobile platforms, ensuring that every generation of OnePlus handsets deliver a powerful performance," added Sanjay Mehta, Senior Vice President, Qualcomm.
Airtel’s strong 4G presence across Bengal and Sikkim will enable seamless connectivity for VoLTE services, offering customers parallel sessions of seamless voice calling and superfast data. Airtel has also been consistently ramping up its 4G capacity in both the states to serve the fast growing customer demand for high-speed data.
Over 200 4G smartphones now support Airtel VoLTE, enabling customers to experience HD quality voice calling and superfast data on a wide range of smartphones on Airtel’s nationwide 4G network. All popular 4G smartphones are now shipped with default Airtel VoLTE support. Users of the bestselling 4G smartphones from major brands like Oppo, Vivo, Apple, Samsung, OnePlus, Nokia, Panasonic, Xiaomi, Karbonn, Lava and Panasonic can now converse on the HD quality voice calling offered on Airtel VoLTE.
Sameer Anjaria, CEO, West Bengal & Odisha, Bharti Airtel said, “We are delighted to extend our VoLTE footprint to Bengal and Sikkim, complementing our world class 4G network, VoLTE will add to customer’s experience and enable them to make the most of their smartphone.”
There will be no additional data charges for VoLTE and calls will be billed as per existing plan or pack benefits. In case of non-availability of 4G network, Airtel VoLTE calls automatically fall back on 3G/2G network to ensure that customers continue to stay connected at all times.
Customers can get started on Airtel VoLTE services by following a few quick steps:
Customers with Dual-SIM handsets have to ensure that the Airtel 4G USIM has been inserted in the data SIM slot 1 and network mode has been set as “4G/3G/2G (Auto)”.
The firm recently displayed its first 5G prototype smartphone powered by Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 855 processor at MWC Barcelona (Mobile World Congress) in Spain.
The company would be amongst the first original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to launch smartphones powered by the Snapdragon 855 Mobile Platform in the country and work with the chip maker on 5G trials.
"We have been loyal to Qualcomm's 800-series Snapdragon chipsets since the release of our very first flagship device. This strong partnership with Qualcomm makes us believe that we could bring the best 5G device to the world," Pete Lau, Founder and CEO, OnePlus, said in a statement.
The smartphone player initially began research on 5G in 2016.
In 2017, it started working with Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., on OnePlus's 5G device development and in August 2018, the OnePlus 5G Project Team established a 5G connection to Qualcomm Technologies' laboratory located in San Diego, US.
It has been working closely with Qualcomm for two years to perfect the technology to meet OnePlus's standards of "fast and smooth", the company added.
"The Note 10 will have no 3.5mm connector, and exterior buttons (power, volume, Bixby) will be replaced by capacitive or pressure-sensitive areas, likely highlighted by some kind of raised 'bump' and/or texture along the edge (i.e. a faux button)," the Android Authority reported late on Thursday.
Removing the headphone jack would almost certainly result in criticism from some of those fans who have long held that Samsung's steadfast adherence to the 3.5-mm jack is one of their big reasons for sticking with the smartphone player.
"But in 2019, Samsung virtually stands alone in the high-end phone space in this regard. Google, OnePlus, Huawei and Apple have all abandoned the headphone jack on their premium devices. Even many budget phone-makers have started to purge it," the report added.
The company has been launching a "T" iteration roughly six months after unveiling a flagship device with additional upgrade, since the launch of OnePlus 3 in 2016.
However, this year, it introduced a Pro version alongside the OnePlus 7 largely because the company is trying to court more users in the fiercely-competitive smartphone industry.
In India, it is clearly among the favourites as OnePlus, along with Samsung and Apple, accounted for 90 per cent of the premium segment shipments in Q1 2019.
OnePlus 7 Pro is the biggest and most expensive handset the company has ever made, with a starting price of Rs 48,999 for the 6GB+128GB variant and Rs 52,999 for the 8GB+256GB model.
We used the premium configuration of 12GB+256GB which costs Rs 57,999 in India for a week. Here's how it fared in everyday use.
Talking about the design and build, this is the heftiest OnePlus ever with a 6.67-inch Fluid AMOLED display, rounded corners (quite like Samsung's flagship Galaxy S series) in a new Nebula Blue colour. This variant is matte and has a half gradient finish that looked classy when it caught light.
Metal and glass have been used to render a solid yet premium feel to the smartphone.
The screen has a refresh rate of 90Hz that ensured there was no scrolling lag. In addition, the display was crisp and bright sans over-saturation and definitely the biggest USP of the phone. The higher refresh rate also made it feel as good as Galaxy S10+.
The phone houses one speaker grille on the bottom while another sits in the top bezel which is beautifully hidden in the crevice between the metal frame and screen, resulting in a truly bezel-less display.
OnePlus 7 Pro's screen was significantly better than iPhone XR that sports a liquid retina LCD screen and currently retails at almost Rs 60,000 for the 64GB storage version.
On the rear sits an 48MP main sensor along with an 8MP telephoto lens and 16MP ultra-wide lens.
The primary camera took detailed and well-exposed photos; we especially liked the HDR rendering of the images (after the OTA update).
A motorized pop-up 16MP selfie camera is embedded inside the phone and pops up when you try to take a self portrait.
The process was quick and it did not make creaky sounds when we took selfies. Also, if the phone is dropped, the camera automatically pops back inside.
The selfie shooter took great shots with a blur effect. The pop-up camera works in a similar fashion during face unlock, which was just snappy.
The phone's in-screen fingerprint sensor was equally fast but not as great as a traditional rear-mounted scanner.
The phone packs the top-tier Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset that ensured performance was super-fast sans any stutter.
The company has bumped up the OnePlus 7 Pro's battery to 4,000mAh that was needed to support a much bigger display and higher refresh rate.
Even as it lasted a day on average usage, we found the battery deplete slightly faster than last year's OnePlus 6T that housed a smaller 3,700mAh battery.
Despite being a performance powerhouse, the device lacks wireless charging.
We liked the alert slider on OnePlus as it let us easily toggle between silent, vibrate and ring modes on single touch.
Some downsides of the phone include no formal water resistance IP rating and no expandable storage as well. The company has also missed out on a headphone jack.
Conclusion: Given the specs for the price, OnePlus 7 Pro clearly undercuts its rivals and definitely performs with the same calibre as other flagships like Galaxy S10+.
By Krishna SinhaChaudhury
OnePlus TV 55Q1 Pro will cost Rs 99,900 while OnePlus TV 55Q1 will be available for Rs 69,900.
The TVs with 4K QLED display, HDR10+ support, 50W eight-speaker setup and Dolby Atmos for cinematic sound will become the central hub of a connected smart home.
"We didn't want to make an ordinary smart TV, we wanted to make a TV that would meet the highest standard in the industry, and one that would be a breakthrough in users' home internet experience," said Pete Lau, Founder and CEO of OnePlus.
The TVs comes bundled with Hungama, Eros and Zee5 content. Other content partners include Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar, SonyLiv and YouTube.
After India, OnePlus plans to launch smart Android TVs in China, Europe and North America, after securing relationships with local and regional content providers.
The company also expanded its premium smartphone line-up with OnePlus 7T smartphone that comes with industry-leading 90Hz Fluid AMOLED display.
Customers will also be able to purchase OnePlus 7T and OnePlus TV at exclusive pop-ups in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Kolkata and Ahmedabad, starting at 2 pm on September 27. Open sales for both the OnePlus TV and OnePlus 7T will begin on September 28.
OnePlus 7T Glacier Blue (8GB+128GB) variat will cost Rs 37,999, OnePlus 7T Glacier Blue (8GB+256GB) variant Rs 39,999 and OnePlus 7T Frosted Silver (8GB+128GB) model will cost Rs 37,999.
"The OnePlus 7T is a combination of style and substance, with industry-leading technology including the super smooth 90 Hz display, and new triple-camera set-up, and unmatched user experience," said Lau.
It is the first smartphone officially preloaded with Android 10, Google's latest version of Android.
OnePlus 7T is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 plus processor and houses UFS 3.0 storage for faster file transfers and offers ample room for storing additional files, photos, music and videos.
The device has powerful dual stereo speakers featuring Dolby Atmos. It has new fast-charge technology called "Warp Charge 30T" that claims to fill up the phone within one hour, 23 per cent quicker than Warp Charge 30.
The bespoke OxygenOS is the backbone of the fast and smooth experience the OnePlus 7T delivers.
With brightness of up to 1,000 nits, content viewed on the OnePlus 7T can be more vivid even under direct sunlight, claimed the company.
The OnePlus 7T features 48MP Sony IMX586, a half-inch large image sensor with 7P lens, a large aperture of f/1.6 and OIS (optical image stablisation).
"Among the various camera modes, the new Macro Mode featured on the OnePlus 7T encourages users to get up close to a focus distance of 2.5cm and discover the details that often go unnoticed," said the company.
The brands have created special Lenses that brings to life landmarks like Taj Mahal, Gateway of India, Tower Bridge in London and the Eiffel Tower to commemorate the festival of lights.
"Snapchat has partnered with OnePlus to bring Indians around the world a little closer to home to celebrate the festival of lights with the power of Snapchat's AR technology," said Tarika Soni, Head of Commercial Strategy and Ad Monetisation for India, Snapchat.
Snapchat has 203 million daily active users globally, with 70 per cent playing with or using AR features every day.
Launched earlier this year, "Landmarkers" are available in Lens Studio and anyone can create AR experiences for Snapchat.
Lenses using our Landmarker technology enable AR experiences that can transform the world's most iconic landmarks in real-time.
"Building on 'One World. One Family. OnePlus' campaign, we collaborated with Snapchat to bring alive the festival of lights to our Indian diaspora spread across the world," said Vikas Agarwal, General Manager, OnePlus India.
The company informed its users on Friday that all payment information, passwords and accounts are safe but the name, contact number, email and shipping address in certain orders may have been exposed.
OnePlus, however, did not disclosed how many users in which parts of the world were affected by the data breach on its website.
"We want to update you that we have discovered that some of our users' order information was accessed by an unauthorised party," Ziv C, Staff Member, Security Team, OnePlus, wrote in the company forum.
OnePlus suffered a similar security breach in January last year when hackers gained access to the data of nearly 40,000 users.
According to the smartphone player, the hacker's entry point this time was a loophole in its website, but did not provide any additional details.
Users who were hit by the breach may receive spam and phishing emails as a result of this incident.
"Before making this public, we informed our impacted users by email. Right now, we are working with the relevant authorities to further investigate this incident," added Ziv.
The breach happened last week, according to OnePlus' FAQ page.
"We took immediate steps to stop the intruder and reinforce security, making sure there are no similar vulnerabilities. Before making this public, we informed our impacted users by email. Right now, we are working with the relevant authorities to further investigate this incident,' said the company.
The company said it has notified all impacted users via email.
"If you don't get an email from us, rest assured that your order information is safe. However, if you have further concerns, please contact us at Customer Support for assistance," said OnePlus.
The company said it is partnering with a world-renowned security platform next month and will launch an official bug bounty programme by the end of December.