In the third quarter of 2018, Chinese brands Huawei and Xiaomi, helped drive global smartphone sales, according to research and advisory group, Gartner.<\/p>\n
Overall, sales of smartphones to end users grew 1.4% in the third quarter of 2018 to reach 389 million units.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we had taken both Huawei and Xiaomi out of the global smartphone vendors list, smartphone sales to end users would have declined by 5.2%,\u201d said Anshul Gupta, research director at Gartner.<\/p>\n
\u201cLed by low-price smartphones, enhanced camera features and high-quality resolution displays, top Chinese mobile phone manufacturers boosted their sales across emerging markets in the third quarter of 2018.\u201d<\/p>\n
While sales of smartphones are slowing down for most mobile phone manufacturers, Huawei saw demand for its smartphones grow by 43% in the third quarter of 2018.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe gap between Samsung and Huawei continues to shrink, as Huawei expands aggressively by investing in branding and distribution in the emerging markets of the Middle East, Asia\/Pacific and Africa,\u201d said Gupta.<\/p>\n
\u201cHuawei is, for example, aggressively positioning its affordable Honor series smartphones to drive the shift from feature phones to smartphones in those markets.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the third quarter of 2018, Samsung experienced its biggest decline since Gartner has been tracking smartphone sales globally.<\/p>\n
Samsung\u2019s smartphone sales declined 14% in the third quarter.<\/p>\n
Samsung\u2019s Galaxy S9, S9+ and Note 9 struggled to revive demand in 2018, and its revamped midtier and entry-tier smartphones continued to face huge competition from top Chinese brands who grew market share in key markets, such as India.<\/p>\n
Smartphone Sales by Vendor in 3Q18 (Thousands of Units)<\/strong><\/p>\n Apple\u2019s performance was flat in the third quarter of 2018 (0.7% growth).<\/p>\n \u201cApple\u2019s iPhones are facing a saturated premium smartphone market, with slowing growth rates and increased competition in China,\u201d said Gupta.<\/p>\n \u201cApple\u2019s new flagship smartphones, announced in September, will be key to defining Apple\u2019s overall iPhone unit sales in 2018. Initial channel checks suggest that the Xs Max is outselling the Xs model, and we also see the Xs Max as a critical addition for the Chinese market where Apple has been losing share.\u201d<\/p>\n The Future: 5G and Foldable Smartphones<\/strong><\/p>\n With global smartphone sales decelerating significantly, the attention of mobile phone manufacturers is moving to new technologies like 5G and foldable form factor to differentiate the user experience on smartphones and generate new user value.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile 2019 will mark an important year for more R&D and testing\/trials of varying 5G technologies, it is unlikely that 5G will be seen in mobile devices in significant volumes before 2020,\u201d said Roberta Cozza, research director at Gartner.<\/p>\n \u201cWe expect 5G mobile phone sales to total 65 million units in 2020.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition, several vendors, such as Samsung, Huawei and LG, are expected to launch new foldable form factors in 2019.<\/p>\n \u201cBeyond the initial interest these devices will be expensive and with usability trade-offs initially,\u201d said Cozza.<\/p>\n \u201cIt will take time for vendors to build a strong ecosystem of software, and to get developers on board to generate attractive and innovative user experiences around foldable smartphones.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n
\n Vendor<\/th>\n 3Q18 Units<\/th>\n 3Q18 Market Share<\/th>\n 3Q17 Market Share<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n \n Samsung<\/td>\n 73 360.1<\/td>\n 18.9<\/span>%<\/td>\n 22.3%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Huawei<\/td>\n 52 218.4
\n<\/span><\/td>\n13.4%<\/td>\n 9.5%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Apple<\/td>\n 45 745.6
\n<\/span><\/td>\n11.8%<\/td>\n 11.8%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Xiaomi<\/td>\n 33 219.7
\n<\/span><\/td>\n8.5%<\/td>\n 7.0%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Oppo<\/td>\n 30 563.4
\n<\/span><\/td>\n7.9%<\/td>\n 7.7%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Others<\/em><\/td>\n 153 960<\/span><\/em><\/td>\n 39.6%<\/em><\/td>\n 41.6%<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Total<\/strong><\/td>\n 389 068.2
\n<\/span><\/b><\/strong><\/td>\n100%<\/strong><\/td>\n 100%<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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