Strategy Analytics: Global smartphone shipments reached 376 million units in Q4 2018

Strategy Analytics' latest research report points out that global smartphone shipments in Q4 2018 fell 6% year-on-year to 376 million units. Smartphone shipments fell 5% for the whole year of 2018, the first full-year decline in the smartphone industry. In the last quarter of 2018, Samsung maintained its first place with 18% of the global smartphone market share, Apple iPhone ranked second, and Huawei ranked third.

“In Q4 2018, global smartphone shipments fell 6% year-on-year, from 400.7 million units in Q4 2017 to 376 million units in Q4 2018,” said Qian Sui, Director at Strategy Analytics. “The global smartphone market has declined for five consecutive quarters due to longer replacement cycles, a lack of stunning models, and economic headwinds. Global smartphone shipments fell 5% from 1.51 billion in 2017 to 1.43 billion in 2018. This is the first time in history that the global smartphone market has experienced a full-year decline - this is a milestone event.”

Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “Samsung shipped 69.3 million smartphones worldwide in Q4 2018, down 7% year-on-year from 74.4 million in Q4 2017. Samsung remains the world’s leading smartphone vendor despite stiff competition from Apple and Huawei, as well as other companies in core markets such as India, Europe and the United States. Apple shipped 65.9 million iPhones worldwide in Q4 2018, down 15% year-on-year from 77.3 million in Q4 2017. In Q4 2018, iPhone accounted for 18% of the global smartphone market share, down one percentage point from 19% a year ago. Apple suffered huge losses in China, which dragged down its global performance. Consumer demand for the new XR, XS and XS Max models was lower than expected.”

Woody Oh, Director at Strategy Analytics, added: “Huawei remains the third largest smartphone vendor in the world, with a 16% market share in Q4 2018. For the full year 2018, Huawei’s global smartphone shipments grew 35% to a record 205.8 million units. Huawei is closing in on Apple, which shipped 206.3 million iPhones last year. Huawei is catching up with the iPhone on a massive scale, and we expect Huawei to surpass Apple globally for the first time in 2019.”

Qian Sui, Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “OPPO ranked fourth with 8% global smartphone market share in Q4 2018, slightly higher than 7% a year ago. OPPO is rapidly expanding into Europe and Africa, with countries such as Egypt and Italy, which is complementary to its core business in Asia. Xiaomi’s global smartphone shipments fell 6% year-on-year to 26 million units in Q4 2018. Xiaomi ranked fifth with 7% global market share in the quarter. Xiaomi’s growth slowed sharply in the last few months of last year due to inventory backlogs and fierce price competition from Huawei and Realme in key regions such as China and India. Xiaomi faces a more difficult situation in 2019 and may find it difficult to maintain profits if growth continues to decline.”