Huawai overtakes Apple as No.2 smartphone brand; Samsung still leads

Samsung remains the leader in smartphone shipments globally, even though its shipments declined in the April-June 2018 quarter over last year, reports by International Data Corp (IDC), Counterpoint Research and Canalys said.

The reports said Huawei registered shipments of about 54 million units, giving it 15-16 per cent market share. Apple shipped about 41.3 million units and had 11-12 per cent share. Samsung shipped over 71 million units to command over 20 per cent market share during the quarter.

Xiaomi and Oppo took the fourth and fifth spots in the global smartphone market with 9 per cent and 8 per cent share respectively.

While global smartphone shipments declined 2 per cent annually in the second quarter of 2018, according to Counterpoint, the top 10 players captured 79 per cent of the market. According to IDC, smartphone vendors shipped a total of 342 million units during the second quarter, which was a 1.8 per cent decline on a yearly basis.

According to Counterpoint Research Associate Director Tarun Pathak, Huawei shipped more smartphones than Apple to capture the second spot in the global smartphone rankings, after seven years of Apple-Samsung dominance.

“Huawei achieved this by launching smartphones in the premium segment and capturing the mid-tier segment with its fast-growing Honor sub-brand. With this, it is offering a broad and refreshed portfolio at affordable prices, which is driving growth in the overseas market,” he said.

The firm also expects Huawei and Honor’s store counts to increase in the future, further boosting shipments.

According to Counterpoint’s data, Huawei shipments grew 41 per cent annually in the second quarter of 2018. It grew fully 71 per cent overseas. Research firm Canalys’ data showed that Huawei shipped 54 million handsets in the quarter.

Huawei has achieved this success thanks to the strong sales of its latest flagship, P20 and P20 Pro, which exceeded the performance of its previous P10 and P9 phone. Huawei shipped 7 million units of the P20 and P20 Pro in the quarter, notes Canalys.

Counterpoint’s report said Apple saw shipments remaining flat in China year-on-year during the quarter, while it was a “slow quarter” for the company in India.

Canalys, in its report, said Apple’s iPhone sell-in of 41 million units in the June 2018 quarter is “within its typical range for the second quarter”.

“Q2 has always been seasonally weak for Apple ... while the iPhone X succeeded in generating volume in the previous quarters despite its hefty price tag, it has been unable to sustain that volume this quarter ... if Apple and Samsung want to maintain their market positions, they must make their portfolios more competitive,” Canalys senior analyst Ben Stanton said.

IDC estimates that vendors shipped a total of 342 million units during the second quarter of 2018, a decline of 1.8 per cent from the year-ago period.

“Huawei’s strategy has evolved significantly over the last six months,” said Mo Jia, Canalys analyst, in a press statement. “Despite its failure to strike a US carrier partnership earlier this year, the company has turned around quickly, moving away from its drive for profitability and focusing instead on finding volume growth at the low end.

“Honor, which has long been a major brand in China but relatively small overseas, has taken a pivotal role in this strategy.”

The Honor brand’s share of overall Huawei smartphone shipments increased to 36 per cent in the quarter. Over 4 million Honor-branded smartphones were shipped outside China. In India the Honor brand has been aggressively competing with Xiaomi and Samsung, with newer offerings across price points.

According to IDC, Huawei now has 27 per cent record high share in China smartphone market, and the premium P20/P20 Pro series had strong demand in the $600-$800 price segment. This has also boosted Huawei’s profile in the high-end segment, according to IDC.