Chinese manufacturers dominate global smartphone market as Apple struggles: Report

Chinese smartphone manufacturers have reportedly dominated the global smartphone market in Q2 2019. A new report suggests that the major Chinese brands have recorded an all-time high in terms of smartphone market share. 

According to a report by market research company Counterpoint, major Chinese smartphone manufacturers have recorded nearly 42 percent sales during Q2 2019.

These brands include Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi, and Realme (HOVXR). The rise in smartphone sales was in spite of a global year-to-year decline up to 1.2 percent to 360 million units. During Q2 2018, worldwide smartphone shipment recorded 364.3 million units, according to the report.

The most successful amongst the Chinese brands was Realme, which recorded an 848 percent growth between Q2 of 2018 and 2019. Realme shipped 4.7 million units, which is close to Nokia (HMD Global) that shipped 4.8 million units. 

Samsung shipped 76.6 million units and recorded a growth of 7.1 percent, followed by Huawei, which shipped 56.7 million units. “The US-China trade war escalated with Huawei added in the entity list in May. Despite the ban, Huawei was able to register a 4.6% growth during the quarter, capturing a 16% market share”, said Tarun Pathak, Associate Director at Counterpoint Research.

He stated that in the coming quarters, Huawei is likely to be aggressive in its home market, which could register some growth.

Apple recorded a decline of 11.9 percent, with 36.4 million units shipped till Q2 2019. Xiaomi followed the iPhone-maker with 32.3 million units and Oppo with 29 million units. Oppo saw a year-on-year decline of 2 percent.

In terms of global market share, Samsung continues to top with 21.3 percent, followed by Huawei with 15.8 percent. Apple was third on the list with a 10.1 percent market share. Tim Cook announced that iPhone sales have picked up in India and China, in spite of the company’s year-on-year decline in sales figures. The improvement could have been due to the price cut on iPhone XR in India and China.