>In 2018, Apple Inc in India witnessed the stuff that nightmares are made of.
>iPhone sales in India fell nearly 50% year-on-year last year. The company sold just 1.7 million smartphones in 2018 as compared to 3.2 million in 2017, according to data from Hong Kong-based Counterpoint Research.
>A major factor behind iPhone’s poor performance was the increase in competition in the premium smartphone segment, said Tarun Pathak, associate director at Counterpoint, citing the meteoric rise of OnePlus as a game-changer.
>As Apple lost ground in the over $400 (Rs28,310) price band, OnePlus clocked its highest ever shipments in a quarter in the three months ending September 2018, pushing the overall smartphone average selling price (ASP) in the online space to $166 from $156 in the year prior. The Shenzhen brand holds over 37% of the premium smartphone segment in India now.