Chinese smartphone maker, Huawei has surpassed Cupertino giant Apple to become the second largest smartphone brand globally during Q2 2018. Huawei had a 15% market share followed by Apple at 11%. Samsung is still on top with 20% market share as it shipped a total of 71.9 million smartphones globally. During the quarter, Huawei shipped 54.2 million devices with a growth of 41% YoY, while shipments of Apple remained flat at 41.3 million, a growth of just 1% when compared to the same period last year. According to Counterpoint Research's Market Monitor service, global smartphone shipments declined 2% to 360 million units annually in Q2 2018, continuing the trend from a decline of 3% in Q1 2018.
"Huawei had a good second quarter in 2018 as it shipped more smartphones than Apple to capture the second spot in the global smartphone rankings, after seven years of Apple-Samsung dominance," said Tarun Pathak, Associate Director at Counterpoint Research. Huawei with its sub-brand, Honor, is offering a broad and refreshed portfolio at an affordable price which is driving growth in the overseas market.
"Honor, which is already strong in the e-commerce segment, is now adopting a multi-channel strategy through branded stores in the southeast Asia market. We expect store counts to increase in the future," Pathak noted, as reported by IANS.
Samsung led the smartphone market by volume even though it registered an annual decline of 11% owing to weak sales of its flagship Galaxy S9 series smartphones. It shipped 71.6 million units while Huawei did 54.2 million handsets in the second half.
"Even as Samsung smartphone shipment volumes declined globally, the brand posted a record second quarter in India, regaining its top position in Indian smartphone market," said the report.
Samsung will launch its Galaxy Note 9 flagship soon to counter the string of premium segment launches by its competitors and to gain some momentum before the launch of the new iPhone in September.
It will also focus on launching newer models with high specs in each price segment, to counter the growing competition.
Huawei managed to be the fastest growing (21%) smartphone brand amid a declining China smartphone market and grew fully 71% overseas, with its shipments growing 41% annually in the second half.
Top 10 players now capture 79% of the market, thereby leaving over 600 brands to compete for the remaining 21% of the market.
"Major Chinese brands like Oppo, Vivo, Huawei are now focusing on increasing their average selling prices (ASPs) by bringing in features like artificial intelligence, bezel-less displays, dual cameras and innovative industrial designs in the affordable premium segment," explained Research Analyst Shobhit Srivastava.
Xiaomi shipped 33 million smartphones globally, capturing 9% market share of the smartphone sector. Oppo and Vivo were the fifth and sixth largest brands during the quarter, capturing 8% and 7% market share, respectively. Lenovo (including Motorola) captured the eighth spot with a market share of 3%.
