Huawei sold 67 million smartphones in Q3, 18% of the world market. Samsung is ahead at 22% but the gap is narrowing quickly. The US boycott is having some effect, especially in Europe. Otherwise, Huawei would be on track to catch Samsung at the end of this year.
After two years of stagnation, smartphone sales climbed by 2%. The figures are from Strategy Analytics, a respected source. (Full release below) The boom in China 5G is key to Huawei’s success.
Apple and almost everyone else saw sales drop. Apple is confident they will sell 80 million 5G phones, although they probably won’t launch until September.
Huawei, Samsung, and Apple’s costs are lower because they design their own chips. They will likely to continue to grow share. OPPO and Xiaomi are falling behind. LG, Lenovo/Motorola, and Sony are falling behind.
Great sales of phones and 5G radios in China.
Huawei has already shipped 400,000 5G Massive MIMO radios, most in China and Korea. 400,000 radios dwarf the Chinese public plan of 130,000 installed in 2019.
An intriguing possibility is that Huawei is renting China Mobile 5G radios. Mobile told investors early this year it would installing 50,000 radios and keeping capex down. Renting radios from Huawei would allow CM to deploy more than 50,000 radios without telling investors.
It’s more likely that the telcos have built an inventory for the ~200,000 they plan to deploy in the first quarter of 2020.
Strategy Analytics: Global Smartphone Shipments Return to 2 Percent Growth in Q3 2019
Category:
DevicesOctober 30, 2019EmailPDFPrintRSSGlobal smartphone shipments grew 2 percent annually to 366 million units in Q3 2019. Smartphones are recovering. Samsung is first, Huawei is second, Apple iPhone third.Tweet this
BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, global smartphone shipments grew 2 percent annually to reach 366 million units in the third quarter of 2019. This is the smartphone industry’s first period of positive growth for two years. Samsung maintained first position with 21 percent global smartphone marketshare, Huawei rose to a record 18 percent, while Apple held 12 percent marketshare in third place.
Linda Sui, Director at Strategy Analytics, said, “Global smartphone shipments grew 2 percent annually from 359.8 million units in Q3 2018 to 366.3 million in Q3 2019. The global smartphone market grew for the first time since the third quarter of 2017. Worldwide demand for smartphones is recovering, due to strong pricing competition among vendors and new innovations such as larger screens and 5G connectivity.”
Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “Samsung shipped 78.2 million smartphones worldwide in Q3 2019, jumping 8 percent annually from 72.3 million units in Q3 2018. Samsung has lifted its global smartphone marketshare from 20 percent to 21 percent in the past year. Strong sales of the premium Galaxy Note 10 and mass-market A Series models boosted Samsung’s smartphone shipments and profit during the quarter. Huawei once again surprised everyone and grew its global smartphone shipments by an impressive 29 percent annually from 51.8 million during Q3 2018 to 66.7 million in Q3 2019. Huawei captured a record 18 percent global smartphone marketshare in Q3 2019, up sharply from 14 percent a year ago. Huawei surged at home in China during the quarter, as the firm sought to offset regulatory uncertainty in other major regions such as North America and Western Europe.”
Woody Oh, Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “Apple iPhone shipments fell 3 percent annually from 46.9 million units worldwide in Q3 2018 to 45.6 million in Q3 2019. Despite the slight decline, this was actually Apple’s best growth performance since last year. We believe Apple is stabilizing, due to cheaper iPhone 11 pricing and healthier demand across Asia and the United States.”
Linda Sui, Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “Xiaomi maintained fourth place, capturing 9 percent global smartphone marketshare in Q3 2019, slightly down from a year ago. Xiaomi is losing ground in core markets of India and China, due to fierce competition from Huawei, Realme and others. OPPO took fifth position with 8 percent global smartphone marketshare during the quarter, slipping from 9 percent share a year ago. OPPO is expanding hard into Western Europe, with new models like the Reno 5G, but it is coming under severe pressure at home in China from a resurgent Huawei.”
Exhibit 1: Global Smartphone Vendor Shipments and Marketshare in Q3 2019 1
| Global Smartphone Shipments by Vendor (Millions of Units) | Q3 ’18 | Q3 ’19 | Growth YoY (%) |
| Samsung | 72.3 | 78.2 | 8% |
| Huawei | 51.8 | 66.7 | 29% |
| Apple | 46.9 | 45.6 | -3% |
| Xiaomi | 33.0 | 32.3 | -2% |
| OPPO | 31.2 | 29.4 | -6% |
| Others | 124.6 | 114.1 | -8% |
| Total | 359.8 | 366.3 | 2% |
| Global Smartphone Marketshare by Vendor (% of Total) | Q3 ’18 | Q3 ’19 | |
| Samsung | 20.1% | 21.3% | |
| Huawei | 14.4% | 18.2% | |
| Apple | 13.0% | 12.4% | |
| Xiaomi | 9.2% | 8.8% | |
| OPPO | 8.7% | 8.0% | |
| Others | 34.6% | 31.1% | |
| Total | 100.0% | 100.0% | |
| Total Growth: Year-over-Year (%) | -8% | 2% | |
| Source: Strategy Analytics |
The full report, Global Smartphone Shipments Regrow 2 Percent in Q3 2019, is published by the Strategy Analytics Wireless Smartphone Strategies (WSS) ser