Strategy Analytics: Global smartphone shipments in Q2 2018 were 350 million units, down 3% year-on-year

Strategy Analytics ' latest research report points out that global smartphone shipments fell 3 % year-on-year to 350 million units in Q2 2018. Samsung maintained its first place with a 20 % global smartphone market share, while Huawei surpassed Apple for the first time in history to become the world's second largest smartphone manufacturer.

“Global smartphone shipments fell 3% year-on-year from 360.4 million units in Q2 2017 to 350.4 million units in Q2 2018,” said Qian Sui, Director at Strategy Analytics. “The global smartphone market has slowed down this year due to longer replacement cycles, reduced operator subsidies, and a lack of new hardware design innovations.”

Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “Samsung’s global smartphone shipments fell 10% year-on-year from 79.5 million in Q2 2017 to 71.5 million in Q2 2018. This was Samsung’s worst quarterly performance since Q3 2016. Samsung is being squeezed out by Chinese rivals such as Xiaomi and Huawei in key Asian markets such as China and India. Huawei’s global smartphone shipments surged 41% year-on-year from 38.4 million in Q2 2017 to a record 54.2 million in Q2 2018. For the first time ever, Huawei surpassed Apple to become the world’s second largest smartphone vendor. Huawei accounted for 15% of the global smartphone market share during the quarter. Huawei’s mid-range Android models, such as the Nova 2S and Nova 3e, are popular in Asian and European markets.”

Woody Oh, director of Strategy Analytics, added, “In Q2 2018, Apple iPhone shipped 41.3 million smartphones worldwide, with a market share of 12%, an above-average year-on-year growth of 1%. Apple continues to grow in smartphones, but at a much slower pace than Chinese competitors such as Huawei and Xiaomi. If Apple hopes to increase shipments in the future, the iPhone needs new innovative designs - perhaps by adding new features such as dual SIM or a foldable screen.”

Qian Sui, Director at Strategy Analytics, added, “Xiaomi shipped 32 million smartphones worldwide in Q2 2018 and ranked fourth with a record global market share of 9% – up three percentage points from 6% year-on-year. Xiaomi’s shipments grew 38% year-on-year, but this is down from 58% a year ago. Xiaomi’s growth is currently slowing due to fierce competition from Huawei in key markets such as India and China. OPPO accounted for 9% of the global smartphone market share in Q2 2018, ranking fifth, slightly higher than 8% a year ago. OPPO has been hit hard by Xiaomi’s rapid expansion over the past year, but OPPO has finally stabilized and fought back with stronger pricing, while also strengthening new models such as the R15 with dual SIM cards.

Figure 1: Global smartphone vendor shipments and market share in Q2 2018