Trends in smartphone ownership

Breakup of smartphone brands people own currently

Looking at the split of smartphone brands used by respondents currently, we

see that Xiaomi leads with a share of 23.6 percent, followed by Samsung with
a share of 21.4 percent. This is indicative of the respective market share of
these brands, and doesn’t really come as a surprise. The real insights however,
appeared when we compared this data with the set of numbers we collected
during the survey we conducted last year. By comparing the data, we were
able to ascertain brands that have improved in popularity this year, and those
that have fallen out of favour.

Smartphone brands with the highest gain in ownership share

(from 2018 to 2019)
The numbers speak for themselves and there are no two ways about this –
Realme is the brand that has defined convention when it comes to increase in
popularity. From a measly 0.30 percent share in 2018, Realme now has a very
impressive 10 percent representation among survey respondents, and that
shows how quickly this brand has grown, and to what extent. Catering to the
spec obsession of users in the affordable segment with devices featuring
loaded configurations, attractive designs and even more attractive price tags,
the brand is riding the popularity wave.

Smartphone brands with the steepest decline in ownership

share (from 2018 to 2019)

Among brands that dropped in popularity, Motorola, Honor, Nokia, Huawei

and OPPO are the ones that draw attention. The reasons aren’t hard to
fathom. Honor just hasn’t shown the same level of aggressiveness this year as
compared to the past, and doesn’t have many compelling new smartphones to
offer. Its parent company Huawei getting hit by a US trade ban has further
compounded issues, which could be the reason why Huawei is also seeing a
drop. On the other hand, Motorola, which was once a favourite among those
looking for bang for the buck, seems to have lost the plot when it comes to
pricing its devices. In recent months, it has been trying to bounce back though,
and has launched a few smartphones (One Vision and One Action) that seem
reasonably good. But whether these handsets can pull users towards Motorola
in swarms and hordes remains to be seen. Nokia and OPPO are seeing
marginal drops as well, and for these brands, the reason could just be the fact
that the competition has been much more aggressive.

Breakup of smartphone brands people plan to buy next

We asked survey respondents about the smartphone brands they’d want to

move to whenever they upgrade their handsets next, and the insights we got
don’t come across as very surprising. OnePlus stands out as the brand that’s
likely to take top position on the podium, with the data projecting a share of
over 18 percent in the months to come. Clearly, the brand’s strategy of
offering flagship smartphones at relatively affordable prices, and its efforts in
developing a strong community of fans and users, has paid off. OnePlus is
followed by Samsung and Xiaomi, as expected.

Realme appears as a surprise contended at number 4 though, but we already

know how quickly it has been growing and expanding its user base.

How ownership trends might change in the future

When we compared the data on current ownership with the numbers on

future ownership, we saw some pretty interesting trends. The comparison
shows that OnePlus is the brand likely to gain the most users in the future,
with the growth pegged at over 12 percent.
Apple, which has always been an iconic, aspirational brands for most, is also
showing a healthy growth of over 6 percent. The other brands likely to see
growth are Realme and Huawei. Brands like Honor, Motorola, Samsung and
Xiaomi however, might see negative growth.

Smartphone features that users want

We asked users about the features they miss the most in their current
handsets. Based on the responds, were able to draw up a list of the most
coveted features, and waterproofing tops the list. Waterproofing of course, is a
very handy feature to have, and provides peace of mind even if you’re a
careful user and unlikely to spill liquids on your phone. This feature is mostly
available on premium flagship smartphones, and judging by our survey, is very
much in demand with users in other segments as well, given then over 20
percent users voted in favour.
Quick charge support is also in demand, with 19.5 percent users voting in
favour. The quick charge feature has now trickled down from flagships to mid-
range and affordable phones, and hopefully, would get ubiquitous very soon.
Next, over 16 percent users voted in favour of pop-up selfie cameras, so
clearly, this is another feature users would like to see in their phones.

User satisfaction

Overall user satisfaction with current smartphone

User satisfaction is of utmost importance for any brand, regardless of the
product or service they might be selling. This metric is even more critical for
smartphone companies, just because of the competition that exists in this
industry and the vast array of options available across different price
segments. It’s OnePlus that takes the crown, with almost 8 in 10 of the brand’s
users saying they’re satisfied with their smartphone. OnePlus is followed by
Realme, with 65 percent users saying they’re satisfied with the handset, while
Apple, with over 63 percent users voting in favour, stands at the third position.
We also asked users regarding satisfaction levels with specific aspects of their
current phone, and derived data points to highlight. Talking about satisfaction
with battery for instance, it’s ASUS that has been rated at the top, with over
75 percent users saying they’re satisfied with the battery life offered by their
ASUS handset. ASUS is followed by OnePlus (70 percent), and Realme (67
percent).
Coming to camera capabilities, it’s Apple that has the highest number of
satisfied users (72 percent), followed by OnePlus (70 percent) and Realme
(63.5 percent). OPPO also has a high number of users satisfied with the
camera prowess of their phones, with almost 62 percent users voting in the
affirmative.
As far as pure performance is concerned, it’s OnePlus that ranks at the top yet
again, with over 88 percent users saying they’re satisfied with the
performance. Then there’s Apple at almost 80 percent, and Realme at 69
percent.

Coming to display capabilities, OnePlus occupies the top spot with almost 83
percent of its users saying they’re happy with their screens. Apple ranks
second with over 75 percent satisfied users, and Samsung follows at third spot
with 71 percent.

Software is a crucial aspect for a smartphone, but many tend to ignore it and
look at only hardware specs instead. In terms of user satisfaction based on
software, thanks to 86 percent of its users voting in favour, OnePlus comes up
at the top spot again. Then there’s Apple with 81 percent votes, and Nokia
with 67.5 percent satisfied users. Surprisingly, Motorola ranks at the bottom of
the list, which is strange since just like Nokia, most of Motorola’s phones run
the stock Android One platform.
Service quality
A whopping 55 percent survey respondents said they had to take their phone
in for service at a service centre, which is a pretty high number if you ask us.
Clearly, smartphone brands need to do a lot more when it comes to quality
control. On a positive note, a large percentage of those who visited service
centres rated their experience as very good or good.
When the data on service quality was split by brand, it was OnePlus that took
the lead –with almost 79 percent users saying they are satisfied with the
quality of service they received. Apple follows with 78 percent votes, while
OPPO appears as the best mid-range brand in the list with 64 percent votes.

Brand loyalty among smartphone users

The most value for money brands

OnePlus and Realme, unsurprisingly, rank at the top as smartphone brands

delivering great value. With almost 88 percent OnePlus users rating their
phones 4 or higher (on a scale of 5) on value, the brand tops the chart.
Focussing on user experience, and offering solid specs at reasonable pricing
has clearly worked in its favour. Next up is Realme with 83.3 percent users
rating it 4 or higher on value. Its high-specced, yet affordable phones are the
reason behind this.
Brands with the highest fall in customer retention

Things don’t seem to be working out too well for Honor, as last year, over 34
percent of its users had shown interest in buying a smartphone from the same
brand again. That number has dipped below 20 percent this year. Similarly, in
Nokia’s case, interest among its users in buying a Nokia phone again has
dipped from 45 percent in 2018 to 31 percent this year.