Global smartphone market declined for first time in 2018

New Delhi: The overall global smartphone market declined for the first time in 2018, registering 4 per cent drop from 1,558.8 million unit shipments in 2017 to 1,498.3 million units 2018, Counterpoint Research said on Thursday.

The fourth quarter smartphone shipments for 2018 recorded a decline of 7 per cent, marking it the fifth consecutive quarter of smartphone decline. Samsung had 19 per cent share, followed by Apple and Huawei, both at 14 per cent, globally. Xiaomi with 8 per cent market share was fourth. “The decline in smartphone shipments can be attributed to lengthening replacement cycles in developed markets like US, China and Western Europe,” said Tarun Pathak, Associate Director at Counterpoint Research.

Smartphone original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) tried to push sales by adding features such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), multiple camera assemblies, full-screen displays and in-screen fingerprint scanners, etc. “But consumers held on to their devices longer due to the absence of ground-breaking innovations and higher prices of devices being offered by the OEMs,” Pathak added. Huawei, OPPO and Vivo continue to dominate with strong performances in China, India, Asia and parts of Europe. Samsung and Apple saw tough times as demand for their flagship phones waned due to competition from affordable yet premium phones from Chinese brands such as Huawei and OnePlus, the report said. “The collective smartphone shipment growth of emerging markets such as India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Russia and others was not enough to offset the decline in China, which was responsible for almost one-third of global smartphone shipments in 2018,” said Research Analyst Shobhit Srivastava. (IANS)

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