Taiwanese handset maker Asus said that it is taking “India-first approach” to grab double-digit market share in the country’s highly competitive smartphone market. Under this strategy, the company is launching new smartphones ahead of any other global market.

It had earlier this year entered into a long-term strategic partnership with e-commerce major Flipkart to develop targeted products for the India market.

“We are taking India-centric innovation approach through our partnership with Flipkart. The partnership has gone deeper now, and they have a dedicated team that works with our team to develop new devices. India is the phase 1 launch market, and is the priority market for the headquarters,” Dinesh Sharma, Head – Mobile Business, ASUS India, told ET.

He added that the brand’s sales grew 10 times between the first and third quarter of this year, and is now among the top five online smartphone brands in India.

According to Counterpoint Research, Asus had 1% market share in the July-September quarter. During the quarter, its Zenfone Max Pro drove the shipments as it was one of the popular devices with 6GB RAM in the sub-$200 segment.

Asus now has smartphones available across price segments which are helping it drive the growth. Its handset range starts from Rs 6,000 and goes up to Rs 70,000 in India, however it is launching products in entry and mid segment.

“We have built up the portfolio to become a key competitor in India,” he said.

Asus on Tuesday launched two new smartphones -- ZenFone Max Pro M2 and Zenfone Max M2 in India. It now has seven smartphone models available for Indian consumers across price segments.

India’s smartphone shipments grew 24% sequentially and 5% YoY driven by strong shipments. Smartphone segment contributed to half of the total handset market during Q3 2018, as per Counterpoint.

During the quarter, China’s Xiaomi was the leading brand with 27% market share, followed by Samsung and Vivo.