According to the latest research from analytics firm Strategy Analytics, global smartphone shipments grew 3% in 2016 to reach a record 1.5 billion units. Apple's iPhone took first place in sales with 18% of all smartphones shipped in the 4th quarter of 2016. While OPPO shipments grew by 99% year over year compared to the previous period.
Global smartphone sales grew 9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016, with 438.7 million units sold compared to 403 million in the same quarter of 2015. Demand is recovering due to rising sales in emerging markets such as China and Africa. Global smartphone sales in 2016 grew 3% from 1.44 billion in 2015 to a record 1.49 billion in 2016.
Apple shipped 78.3 million smartphones worldwide and captured 18% market share in Q4 2016, up from Q4 2016. In 2015, they shipped a total of 74.8 million smartphones. The latest quarter was Apple's best as they capitalized on Samsung's miss with its Note 7. Samsung sold 77.5 million smartphones worldwide in Q4 2016, down 5% from the same quarter in 2015, when they sold 81.3 million units.
Samsung captured 18% of the market in the fourth quarter and 21% for the full year, reaching its lowest level since 2011. The Galaxy S8 should revive growth and regain the lead in the quarterly race. On an annualized basis, Samsung maintains the top spot with 309 million units shipped worldwide in 2016, while Apple ranks second with 215 million.
Huawei maintains third position with 10 percent of smartphones sold in the global market in the 4th quarter of 2016. The company has not reached double digits before. Huawei is struggling at home in China against rivals such as OPPO, but its primacy is guaranteed by good sales abroad in the European market, where sales are driven by constantly improving range, quality, good marketing and deep retail.
OPPO ranks fourth in sales with 99% year-over-year growth and captured a record 7% market share in Q4 2016. almost twice as much as last year. OPPO is growing rapidly in China with popular Android models like the R9. OPPO's next challenge in 2017 is to expand beyond China and continue to grow in emerging regions such as India and Nigeria. Vivo retains fifth place with its record 6% market share in Q4 2016. OPPO and Vivo are very popular in China and they continue to strengthen their position with new smartphones such as the X9 or the upcoming V5 Plus with a 20MP dual camera.
Leaders in smartphone sales in 2016 and market shares in the 4th quarter of 2016 compared to 2015
| Suppliers (in millions of units) | Q4"15 | 2015 | Q4"16 | 2016 |
| Samsung | 81.3 | 319.7 | 77.5 | 309.4 |
| Apple | 74.8 | 231.5 | 78.3 | 215.4 |
| Huawei | 32.6 | 107.1 | 44.9 | 138.8 |
| OPPO | 14.8 | 39.7 | 29.5 | 84.6 |
| Vivo | 13.3 | 39.0 | 25.6 | 71.9 |
| other | 186.2 | 703.2 | 182.9 | 668.1 |
| Total | 403.0 | 1440.2 | 438.7 | 1488.2 |
| Suppliers (market shares in%) | Q4"15 | 2015 | Q4"16 | 2016 |
| Samsung | 20.2% | 22.2% | 17.7% | 20.8% |
| Apple | 18.6% | 16.1% | 17.8% | 14.5% |
| Huawei | 8.1% | 7.4% | 10.2% | 9.3% |
| OPPO | 3.7% | 2.8% | 6.7% | 5.7% |
| Vivo | 3.3% | 2.7% | 5.8% | 4.8% |
| other | 46.2% | 48.8% | 41.7% | 44.9% |
| Total | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% |
| Overall growth | 6.0% | 12.2% | 8.9% | 3.3% |
The modern electronics market, including mobile gadgets, has already reached a high level of development. In a fiercely competitive environment, long-established corporations and newly emerging brands continue the race for supremacy by improving the design, ergonomics and performance of digital devices.
Today you can find the very best companies on the market of modern gadgets in the ranking of the best smartphone manufacturers for 2018, which our team developed based on sales statistics, expert opinions and, of course, reviews on today’s popular forums.
The best smartphone companies - TOP 2018 - 2019
1st place – APPLE
A trendsetter in the development of innovative technologies, APPLE does not need any special introduction. The brand's wide range of products makes its smartphones the benchmark among mobile phones. Since the appearance of iPhones on the market, they have confidently been among the top smartphone sales of each season, despite their high price, which is fully justified by the incomparable build quality, the most secure operating system and newfangled capabilities. And now, every season, ardent fans of the brand look forward to the next masterpiece from the apple company.
- Apple iPhone 4S. In the budget niche of inexpensive but good smartphones is the most successful example of the brand of past seasons - the iPhone 4S. It was equipped with a 3.5-inch display with a resolution of 960×640 pixels and an excellent 8 megapixel photo module. In addition, the device has a good battery that can work in talk mode for up to 14 hours without recharging.
- Apple iPhone 7 Plus 128Gb. Models located in the upper price segment of the seventh generation acquired even larger front panels up to 5.5 inches. A striking example of this is the iPhone 7 Plus, which deserves special attention due to its amazing dual camera and water protection; the smartphone can easily survive rain, spilled water and even swimming in the pool. New products for 2017 presented by the manufacturer to the market continue to amaze users with their capabilities and bells and whistles.
2nd place – SAMSUNG
The most popular smartphone manufacturer at the moment, which has been in high positions for many years, is Samsung. It’s hard to find a person who hasn’t encountered phones from this company at least once in their life; we all remember the first “folding phones” and “sliders” that could be found on the shelves of every smartphone store. Of course, today the company pleases its fans with much more updated flagship solutions in its gadgets for every taste and budget.
- Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) SM-J320F/DS. Speaking about its budget line of smartphones, it is worth highlighting the Samsung Galaxy J3 SM-J320F DS model. I would like to note that the company is accustomed to equipping its devices with powerful cameras, regardless of the price of the phone. This trend has not bypassed the model in question - its camera is 8 pixels and equipped with an LED flash. Also, the budget smartphone has a fairly clear screen and good overall performance; it has everything for comfortable use: from Internet access via 3G and 4G, to a powerful battery with 13 hours of continuous talk time.
- Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge 128Gb. Among Samsung smartphones in the premium segment, it is worth mentioning the Galaxy S6 Edge 128Gb, which has been leading the top smartphone sales for several seasons, captivating buyers with an absolutely fantastic build, an incredibly realistic and colorful screen resolution of 2560 by 1440 pixels, an amazing 16 million pixel camera, and of course, a curved screen, which has become such a “calling card” of this popular model.
3rd place – HUAWEI
The Chinese company HUAWEI has achieved high positions among popular brands in recent years. The top sales of smartphones from Huawei today are growing very rapidly, which indicates not only the reasonable price of the gadgets, but also the high-quality assembly of Chinese developers.
- Huawei Honor 5A. The company's budget line of smartphones consists of the Huawei Honor 5A, which does not stand out in any way from its competitors. This is a standard phone with a 5-inch display, 2 GB of RAM and a relatively good 2200 mAh battery. For its inexpensive price, this is a really cool smartphone, it has a decent 13-pixel camera, and the screen is colorful and bright. If you are going to buy a smartphone from a good company and spend up to 10,000 rubles, we recommend that you pay attention to this gadget.
- Huawei Mate 9 Pro 128Gb. The range of smartphones from Huawei Mate 9 Pro series deserves special attention. A new-fashioned gadget on Android version 7 with a magnificent camera, like a camera with as many as 20 million pixels! A device with a 5.5-inch screen displays an image with parameters of 2560×1440 pixels. The 8-core processor at 2000 MHz and as many as 6 gigabytes of RAM also deserve attention. Naturally, the price of the smartphone turned out to be appropriate, but you must understand that for your money you will get a truly worthwhile smartphone with amazing capabilities.
4th place – LG
Another well-known South Korean brand, which has proven itself on the positive side, constantly strives to use the functionality tested on its flagships, which is being implemented even in budget phones, but in simplified modifications.
- LG K3 LTE K100DS. The budget range of fairly good and cheap smartphones LG K3 LTE K100DS received a classic body with a small 4.5-inch display. The developers equipped their budget phone with a 5 megapixel camera and the popular version of Android 6.0. Middle-class smartphones can be purchased for up to 5,000 rubles, which is very good for socially vulnerable segments of the population and simply those who want to save a lot on a phone from a well-known manufacturer.
- LG V20. It’s simply impossible to find fault with this variation from LG’s V20 model line. For your considerable price, you get a smartphone with the highest performance, an impressive rich and bright picture on a 5.7-inch screen, a durable and powerful battery, as well as a super cool dual camera of 16 and 8 pixels with autofocus. Fans of this brand have long appreciated this cool smartphone with their numerous positive reviews on the forums.
5th place – SONY
Despite the wide Xperia model line, SONY's share in the electronics market is rapidly declining. The manufacturer is making every attempt to win back its consumers using the fantastic characteristics of new high-quality top-class smartphones. It is worth recognizing that the company’s developers were one of the first to manage to introduce a truly good camera into their gadgets, even in budget devices.
- Sony Xperia E5. In the mid-range and budget categories, the company is doing well. Among inexpensive devices, it is worth highlighting the Sony Xperia E5 series smartphone. The gadget received an excellent 13 MP photo module for bright photos, the popular Android version 6.0 and the ability to expand its memory slot up to 200 GB! You can buy such a good branded budget phone in an online store for 8,000-10,000 rubles, which is quite inexpensive for this brand.
- Sony Xperia Z5 Premium. This is the first smartphone with a very high resolution of 4K, which is displayed on its 5.5-inch display. The picture on this screen is truly impressive. The entire Z5 lineup received a 23-megapixel photo matrix and a five-fold digital zoom. You can only imagine the incredible quality of photographs taken with such a camera. I would also like to note that in addition to high-quality cameras, a feature of SONY smartphones that are good in all respects is the certification of all products to the highest classes of protection against the ingress of various types of contaminants. This smartphone is really worth the money.
6th place – MICROSOFT (NOKIA)
Carried away by concepts that were irrelevant among users, NOKIA fell far behind its competitors. Having completely lost control of the situation, she had to sell her divisions to MICROSOFT Corporation. By switching to the Windows Mobile operating system, the brand, albeit partially, managed to correct the situation, but the smartphones of this company were unable to fully regain their lost positions in the market. Perhaps in the future the manufacturer will still be able to surprise its fans with something original.
- Microsoft Lumia 550. Among the budget ones, we can highlight the Lumia 550 series of phones. Naturally, all devices in the line were equipped with the proprietary Windows OS. The device’s 4.7 display displays a picture with parameters of 1280×720 pixels. The processor accelerates to 1100 MHz. And the battery is quite good at 2100 mAh. Today you can buy this good budget smartphone within 4500-5000 rubles.
- Microsoft Lumia 950 XL Dual Sim. If you want to choose a smartphone from this corporation, then among the flagships, it is worth highlighting the Lumia 950 XL Dual Sim series with a cool resolution of 2560 by 1440 pixels and a high-quality AMOLED display. The gadget received a unique function – voice control. Considering the cameras of the brand’s products, I would like to note that the manufacturer did not violate the NOKIA traditions and all devices in the Lumia lineup received decent photo modules.
7th place – LENOVO
For many years, reliable Lenovo smartphones have been presented in a large assortment on the electronics market. The products of this manufacturer are confidently winning the hearts of users.
- Lenovo Vibe B. The manufacturer's budget segment includes the Vibe B series line. This model received a good 5 MP camera, an average-quality 4.5-inch display with parameters of 854×480 pixels, and a good 2300 mAh battery for its screen. Considering that a smartphone can be bought for 4000-5000 rubles, these characteristics are more than worthy.
- Lenovo Phab 2 Pro. Among the new smartphones in the upper price segment, it is worth highlighting the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro, which has a 6.4-inch display with an excellent image size of 2560 by 1440, a fairly powerful video accelerator and a high-quality 4050 mAh battery. And 4 GB of RAM together with an 8-core processor amazes with its performance. This gadget from Lenovo has already entered the top of the best-selling smartphones of the season.
8th place – HTC
The HTC brand is currently a business partner of Google and Microsoft in the development of mobile gadgets. Back in 2006, this company released the world's first smartphone with 3G running Windows. In 2011, according to sales statistics, HTC confidently entered the top five best-selling smartphones of the year, and in subsequent years it released such successful developments as the HTC One M8, HTC Desire 10 Pro, 10 Evo and HTC Desire 650.
- HTC Desire 530. Among budget smartphones, today we will look at the very nice Desire 530 model with internal filling that is very atypical for a budget smartphone. A quad-core processor with a high-quality video accelerator and a quite good battery for a solid four cope with all the tasks. Judging by the reviews, we can say that this is a good smartphone for the Internet, photos, video calls and other direct mobile phone purposes.
- HTC U Ultra 64Gb. In the upper price category there is a line of U Ultra 64Gb gadgets. The gadget, running on Android version 7, was equipped with a good 5.7-inch screen with an image size of 2560 by 1440, which of course indicates the amazing clarity and richness of the displayed image. The smartphone also features a built-in additional 2.05-inch second screen. Plus, the developers focused specifically on the 16 million pixel front camera for great selfie shots. Of course, the manufacturer asked for an appropriate price.
9th place – ASUS
If you are looking for the best smartphone to buy, take a closer look at the products of ASUS, which focused on the ZenFone model range, which received a prestigious award for original design in 2014. Although, according to experts, ASUS smartphones are not much different from most competitors. If the previous generation of ZenFone cellular phones was distinguished by the corresponding screen diagonal number, today the company decided not to waste indexes on various modifications of phones.
- ASUS ZenFone Go ZB450KL 8Gb. Inexpensive smartphones of the Zen Von Go series ZB450KL 8Gb, costing about 5,000 rubles, received 4.5-inch displays and a quad-core microchip. ASUS employees equipped their budget phone with quite decent average performance: a photo module of 8 million pixels, a 4-core processor, a good 2070 mAh battery and support for 3G and 4G Internet modules. For the price it's an excellent device.
- ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra ZU680KL 64Gb. Expensive products of the brand are represented by the ZenFone 3 Ultra ZU680KL model. An eight-core processor and a powerful 4600 mAh battery provide stunning performance characteristics. Not inferior to them is the 23 megapixel photo module, capable of capturing important moments of life with perfect detail. The quality of the smartphone is 100% consistent with its price.
10th place – Xiaomi
Xiaomi is a Chinese company that has brought many revolutionary solutions to the production of phones. The company is based on the fact that modern electronics users deserve high-quality budget smartphones.
- Xiaomi Redmi 4A. Among budget devices, it is worth highlighting Redmi 4A, which received a decent internal filling. It has a simply wonderful 13 megapixel camera for a cheap smartphone, a 4-core processor and 2 gigabytes of RAM. Such indicators are quite enough for good stable operation of a phone for 6000-7000 rubles.
- Xiaomi Mi Mix 256Gb. A review of smartphones in the upper price segment of a brand is a separate topic for discussion, the main thing is that on thematic forums consumers leave purely positive reviews about the company’s products. Buyers may be interested in the Mi Mix 256Gb model with a high-quality 6.4-inch OLED display with a resolution of 2040x1080 pixels. The device has a 16 megapixel camera, a powerful processor, and a 4400 mAh battery. In addition, visually the gadget looks truly premium and tasteful.
The brand promised to soon announce a new flagship model, which will become the best offer on the electronics market with an optimal price-quality ratio.
Which company's smartphone is better to buy?
2018 is a difficult time for the best smartphone manufacturers; they are forced to constantly search for new technological developments in the face of fierce competition. New little-known companies are putting pressure on giant corporations with affordable pricing for their smartphones with good technical performance. Products from different manufacturers have both their advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, users have to choose between affordable cost and high performance. But the main thing is that there is such a choice. And our rating of the best smartphone manufacturers will help you figure out which brands deserve the attention of domestic users.
In 2016, smartphone sales statistics read like a good detective story. The leaders in smartphone sales were either Apple or Samsung. And the end of the year brought surprises.
In 2016, the situation in the smartphone market changed almost monthly. One or another brand became the leader in smartphone sales in 2016. Even the last quarter of 2016 brought surprises. As at the end of the first half of the year, in the 4th quarter a new leader appeared in the smartphone market, confusing the cards for all players.
Smartphone sales leaders 2016: how did you close the 4th quarter?
The last quarter of the year began for the current leader in smartphone sales with a huge scandal - in October 2016 it was finally revealed that the new flagship and main hope of Samsung Corporation was the most unsuccessful phone in the entire history of the Korean company.
By the middle of the fourth quarter, the mobile device market was struck by less impressive, but still unpleasant stories about an oversupply of smartphones in the warehouses of another sales leader, Apple Corporation. Insiders were talking about unsold copies of the iPhone, citing figures ranging from 10 to 30 percent of the volume of the released batch.
Weak-hearted analysts even started talking about the decline of traditional brands, citing companies from China as an example to Korean and American corporations - Huawei and Oppo, whose sales statistics were growing at an incredible pace. Vivo also showed good results.
Chinese companies, which demonstrated record sales of smartphones in the world in 2016, find themselves in the role of catching up. The maximum result was demonstrated by Apple (78.3 million smartphones) and Samsung (77.5 million devices). The closest competitor, Huawei Corporation, managed to sell 44.9 million phones.
Smartphone sales statistics for the 4th quarter of 2015 and 2016
At the end of the fourth quarter of 2016, the position of Apple and Samsung looks stronger than ever, but if we dig deeper and compare the smartphone sales rankings of 2016-2015, an interesting picture opens up before us:
1. Firstly, the victory of the Apple brand becomes clear, which not only did not lose the pace of sales, but also increased the volume of sold iPhone copies from 74.8 to 78.3 million copies.
2. Secondly, the failure of Samsung Corporation is turning from a predicted probability into a real fact. Koreans were unable to digest the consequences of the release. Compared to the 4th quarter of 2015, sales fell from 81.3 to 77.5 million units.
3. Thirdly, the expansion of Chinese brands is taking on even more threatening features. Huawei increased sales from 32.6 to 44.9 million smartphones, the Oppo brand from 14.8 to 29.5 million, and Vivo from 13.3 to 25.6 million.
As a result, a comparison of the 4th quarter of 2015 with the same period in 2016 shows that, despite the still clear leadership of Apple and Samsung, it was Chinese brands that demonstrated the most impressive sales growth dynamics. Closing the top five successful companies, Oppo and Vivo, almost doubled their smartphone sales.
Smartphone sales ranking – results of 2016
Despite the strengthening of positions in the smartphone sales ranking, it is still too early to talk about the exceptional success of Chinese companies. However, all these Oppo, Vivo and Huawei are developing faster than Apple and Samsung, and their market share is rapidly increasing:
Samsung is indeed losing sales momentum, but still remains the most successful company in the world. True, the brand’s annual sales decreased from 319.7 to 309.4 million smartphones.
Apple, which took the lead in the fourth quarter of 2016, showed more losses at the end of the year than Samsung. Sales of Apple phones fell from 231.5 to 215.4 million units.
The situation with Chinese tigers is developing smoothly. Huawei Corporation increased circulation from 107.1 to 138.8 million smartphones, Oppo increased sales from 39.7 to 84.6 million, and the Vivo brand from 39.0 to 71.9 million.
Looking at the annual circulation, it is clear that the situation with Apple is not developing at all as the “wizards from Cupertino” would like. Samsung wavered, but stood firm. Now the Koreans produce and sell more smartphones than all three “Chinese tigers” combined. At the same time, it is impossible not to notice the enviable growth in sales of Huawei with the fantastic double dynamics of Oppo and Vivo. It looks like 2017 will be no less interesting than 2016.
2018
Apple and Samsung take 86% of profits in the smartphone market
Chinese vendors are attracting attention to their devices with new features, such as a monolithic display with a single cutout for the camera, a fingerprint scanner built into the screen, ultra-fast charging of batteries and artificial intelligence implemented at the hardware level. In addition, in 2018, companies actively developed sales incentive initiatives, for example, trade-in programs and cashback payments.
Apple and Samsung control 70% of refurbished smartphone sales
The global market for refurbished smartphones in 2018 amounted to almost 140 million units, an increase of 1% compared to the previous year. Such data was published on March 14, 2019 by analysts at Counterpoint Technology Market Research.
Manufacturers independently restore used phones, replacing the case, screen and battery, installing a new operating system and assigning a new serial number to the device. Such devices have an official warranty from the manufacturer and are packaged in a box with new headphones, a charger and other accessories. Thus, refurbished smartphones look like new ones.
The market for such products virtually stopped growing globally in 2018 due to an 11 percent drop in sales of new smartphones in key markets such as China and the United States. However, this decline was partially offset by an improvement in the secondary market ecosystem: collection, sorting, repair and further distribution of refurbished pipes in offline or online retail.
At the same time, in some countries there was a surge in demand for refurbished smartphones. For example, in India they sold 14 million units at the end of 2018, which is 14% more than a year ago. Moreover, there remains great potential for further growth, given that 72% of devices in India do not end up on the secondary market, Kang noted.
The leaders in the refurbished smartphone market are Apple and Samsung, which accounted for 70% of sales of such products in 2018.
GfK: The global smartphone market reached $522 billion in 2018
The ongoing trend towards premium models contributed to further growth in global smartphone sales in 2018. In numbers, this is an increase of five percent ($522 billion). However, demand for smartphones in 2018 decreased by three percent compared to 2017, to 1.44 billion units sold worldwide. Smartphones became a major part of overall consumer spending in the global home appliances and electronics market last year. In 2019, the market growth is expected to be one percent.
The results for the 4th quarter of 2018 show a similar trend. About 375 million smartphones (down 7 percent) were sold globally year-over-year, generating $144 billion in sales.
Lack of innovative solutions leads to longer replacement cycles
About twelve percent of smartphones sold in 2018 (nine percent in 2017) cost more than $800. Intense competition continues in the middle price segment of $150-400, which accounted for 46 percent of smartphones sold in 2018 (44 percent in 2017).
In the 4th quarter of 2018, the smartphone replacement cycle continues to increase: the lack of attractive innovative solutions has an impact, which also led to a decrease in the average sales price by two percent, to $384. In Russia, over the same period, the average price tag of a smartphone increased by 9 percent and in 2018 amounted to $250.
Technology for a better experience
GfK Consumer Life research shows that consumer attitudes towards ownership are changing. This is not only about the fact that people prefer to have fewer things of better quality at higher prices, but also about the fact that experience is more important than possession. Increased memory capacity, a larger display diagonal or a larger number of megapixels in the camera - all this is no longer able to captivate consumers and stimulate demand.
Igor Richter, telecommunications expert at GfK, comments: “Our research shows that while new smartphones offer features and performance comparable to laptops, they still need to be converted into a new experience. High-quality games with high system requirements are the main sales driver of the personal computer industry, while the potential of using smartphones for such games remains unexplored. Despite their relatively small display sizes compared to PCs, their powerful chipsets, high resolutions and growing battery capacities make gaming smartphones the ideal portable solution for gamers.”
Major wearable device categories saw growth in 2018, with demand up 16 percent year-on-year and sales up 35 percent. The demand drivers were smartwatches with a SIM card slot, which accounted for the bulk of sales in the wearable devices category. SIM-enabled smartwatches accounted for 17 percent of sales in the wearables category (up from 8 percent in 2017).
Demand in Central and Eastern Europe and Developing Asia* only partially offset the decline in China
The Chinese market is the main consumer in the global smartphone market, and it is also the home market for Chinese brands that have gone global. 40 percent of smartphones from Chinese brands in 2018 were purchased outside of China (31 percent in 2016). The decline in demand in China in the 4th quarter of 2018 (minus 19 percent year-on-year) in terms of volume (27 percent of sales volume) had a significant impact on global indicators. Continued demand growth in developing Asia* (up 13 percent year-on-year) and Central and Eastern Europe (up three percent year-on-year) only partially offset the decline in China in Q4 2018.
Market growth by 1.2% to $1.56 billion - Gartner
On February 21, 2019, the analyst company Gartner published some results of its research on the global smartphone market. In 2018, consumers around the world bought 1.56 billion such devices, which is 1.2% more than the previous year.
At the same time, in North America, annual sales of smartphones decreased by 6.8%, in developed countries of the Asia-Pacific region - by 3.4%, in China - by 3%.
| In mature markets, smartphone demand largely depends on the attractiveness of flagship models from the three leading brands - Samsung, Apple and Huawei. And two of them recorded a decline in 2018, noted Anshul Gupta, senior research director at Gartner. |
According to him, demand for the most expensive and technically advanced devices continues to decline due to rising prices and the slow adoption of innovative features. At the same time, sales of entry-level and mid-level phones are still growing due to the price factor.
In 2018, Samsung and Apple recorded a decline in smartphone sales of 8% and 3% respectively, while Huawei showed a growth of 35%. Xiaomi and Oppo, two of the top five smartphone manufacturers, also increased sales of these gadgets.
According to Anshul Gupta, demand for the iPhone is declining for two main reasons: firstly, consumers are postponing the purchase of new smartphones, waiting for innovative products to appear, and secondly, there are many smartphones in the market with similar characteristics to the iPhone, offered at lower prices. prices.
As for Samsung, the South Korean corporation suffers to a greater extent from increased competition from Chinese brands that are exploring new segments of the smartphone market.
Best Selling Smartphones - Canalys
In February 2019, the analytical company Canalys presented a list of the world's best-selling smartphones based on the results of the previous year. The first four places were taken by Apple devices, and the fifth position was occupied by the Samsung Galaxy J2 Prime model, introduced back in 2016.
- Apple iPhone 8 Plus
- Apple iPhone XR
- Samsung Galaxy J2 Prime
- Samsung Galaxy S9+
- Xiaomi Redmi Note 5
- Samsung Galaxy J2 Pro
- Samsung Galaxy J6
- Apple iPhone XS
- Vivo X21
- Xiaomi Redmi 6A
- Xiaomi Redmi 6
Global shipments of Apple iPhone 8 in 2018 exceeded 36 million units. The balance of power differs in different regions. For example, in the Asia-Pacific region, the first place in sales was taken by the Redmi 5A, which sold more than 15 million units there in 2018. In China, there was no equal to the Oppo R15 model, which the Chinese purchased in quantities of more than 15 million units.
In Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, the most popular smartphone is the Samsung Galaxy J2 Prime. In Central and Eastern Europe, the sales leader was the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017), and in Western Europe - the iPhone 8.
Meanwhile, in February 2019, Business Insider observers ranked the 20 smartphones with the best characteristics. Journalists gave first place to the OnePlus 6T model and noted its attractive price compared to its competitors. The whole list is as follows:
- OnePlus 6T
- iPhone XR
- Google Pixel 3/Pixel 3 XL
- Samsung Galaxy Note 9
- iPhone XS
- iPhone XS Max
- iPhone X
- Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus
- Samsung Galaxy S9
Market decline by 4.1% to 1.41 billion devices - IDC. Top 5 leaders
In 2018, smartphone shipments on a global scale reached 1.41 billion units, decreasing by 4.1% compared to 2017. The market volume has been falling for the second year in a row, whereas previously it showed only growth, according to IDC data published at the end of January 2019.
| The global smartphone market is in trouble, says IDC analyst Ryan Reith. - With the exception of a handful of fast-growing regions such as India, Indonesia, South Korea and Vietnam, we did not see much positive activity in 2018. We see several reasons for this: longer lead times for purchasing new devices to replace old ones, increasing smartphone penetration in many major markets, political and economic uncertainty, and increasing consumer frustration with price increases. |
The study notes that despite the challenges in the global market, most attention is focused on China, since this country has a strong influence on global performance. China accounts for approximately 30% of smartphone sales, and in 2018, shipments of handsets in this market decreased by 10%. The high level of inventories of unsold devices has become a problem in the Middle Kingdom, especially against the backdrop of a decline in consumer spending on gadgets in general.
The largest smartphone manufacturers in the Chinese market are local brands: Huawei, Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi. Their joint share in 2018 was 78% compared to 66% a year earlier.
At the global level, the share of the top five increased during this time from 63% to 69%. If we take the six largest vendors, they accounted for about 75% of smartphone sales in 2018. The balance of power in the market is presented in the table below.
As consumers upgrade their phones less and less, manufacturers will have to re-balance the latest technology, attractive designs and affordable prices, according to IDC analyst Anthony Scarsella.
5 trends in the smartphone market in 2019
At the beginning of December 2018, the ZDNet publication named the main technological trends that, according to journalists, will prevail in the smartphone market in 2019.
In 2019, the first devices supporting fifth generation networks (5G) should appear on the smartphone market. In December 2018, Qualcomm and MediaTek presented their processors with built-in 5G modems.
IDC: First decline at the end of the year to 1.472 billion devices
At the beginning of February 2018, the analytical company IDC reported the results of the global smartphone market in 2017. Device shipments dropped by only 0.1% (manufacturers produced 1.472 billion devices compared to 1.473 billion in 2016), but this decline in annual terms was the first in the entire period of IDC’s monitoring of the market.
Commenting on the results, IDC senior analyst Jitesh Ubrani noted that in 2017, legacy flagship models turned out to be a better option for many buyers than new, ultra-expensive high-end smartphones.
The specialist also drew attention to the desire of leading players to expand their product range in order to cover as many price segments as possible and increase the audience. In this situation, it was especially difficult for smaller manufacturers: in the low-cost category they experienced incredible competitive pressure from Chinese brands Honor, Vivo, Xiaomi and Oppo, while in the premium smartphone segment Apple, Samsung and Huawei continued to reign.
Characterizing the balance of power in the industry, analysts reported that Samsung remains the leader of the global smartphone market, despite the fact that in the final quarter of 2017 the South Korean giant lost to Apple. At the end of the entire year, Samsung released 317.3 million devices, increasing shipments by 1.9% compared to 2016’s 311.4 million devices. Samsung's market share was estimated at 21.6%.
GfK: Growth by 9% in money
TrendForce: Growth by 6.5% to 1.46 billion units thanks to Chinese brands
In 2017, the global smartphone market reached 1.46 billion units, an increase of 6.5% compared to the previous year. This rise was largely ensured by Chinese companies, TrendForce analysts report.
Telecommunications operators from the Middle Kingdom sold phones at reduced prices in exchange for connection to their tariff plans. At the same time, Chinese smartphone manufacturers actively carried out activities to sell devices in emerging markets.
The leader in the global smartphone market remained Samsung Electronics, which in 2017 shipped a record number of handsets - 320 million units, which is 3% more than a year ago. High demand for J-series models helped compensate for the decline of the South Korean giant in the Chinese market.
Despite the success of the flagship iPhone X, shipments of Apple phones increased by only 3% in 2017. The main reason for such weak growth is technical barriers that prevented improvements in the production efficiency of innovative models, the study says.
Over the years, Chinese brands have achieved strong results thanks to strong phone sales in the home market. However, the penetration of smartphones in the country has reached its limit, so both large companies and young manufacturers have switched to foreign developing regions and cooperation with foreign operators, hoping to maintain their positions.
2016
The Chinese are ahead of Apple and Samsung in the smartphone market
On January 25, 2017, the analytical company TrendForce published the results of a study of the global smartphone market. Experts reported that Chinese brands are ahead of the leaders in terms of product output.
TrendForce estimates that global smartphone shipments reached 1.36 billion units in 2016, up 4.7% from the previous year. Chinese manufacturers produced a total of 629 million devices, or 46% of the total. The two largest vendors - Samsung Electronics and Apple - have prepared 519 million smartphones for sale. Analysts expect that in 2017, companies from the Middle Kingdom will occupy about 50% of the global smart phone market, complicating the position of competitors.
In 2016, Samsung reduced smartphone shipments by 3.3%, and the market share of the South Korean giant decreased to 23%. The fall in the number of products released and the share in annual terms was the second in a row.
Samsung's main problems were related to the failed release of the flagship Galaxy Note 7 model (it was withdrawn from sale due to mass defects) and the activity of Chinese companies that strengthened their positions in various market segments - from cheap to expensive premium devices.
In 2016, Apple experienced the first decline in smartphone sales in its history. The regression was measured at 15.3% and is caused by the lack of innovative features in the Apple iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, analysts say. According to their forecasts, in 2017, iPhone production will increase by several percent, and Samsung's decline will continue.
The top three largest smartphone manufacturers in 2016 was closed by the Chinese Huawei. Next came its compatriots Oppo and Vivo, which shipped 180 million handsets between them in a year, which allowed them to get ahead of Lenovo and Xiaomi.
The study also states that one of the most anticipated events in early 2017 should be the return of the Nokia brand to the smartphone market.
The most popular smartphones
In their report, experts do not name exact sales figures, but presented a graph showing approximate demand. The best-selling smartphone is the iPhone 6s, with global shipments of about 60 million units in 2016.
In second position is the Apple iPhone 7 with annual shipments of just over 50 million units. The top 3 included another device produced by Apple - the iPhone 7 Plus, the production of which at the end of 2016 exceeded 25 million units.
Apple has once again demonstrated that its new phones contain enough innovation and new features to help the company grow sales and remain successful. At the same time, Apple can successfully sell older products for a long time, the study says.
Five Samsung models made it into the top ten best-selling smartphones at the end of 2016: Galaxy S7 edge, Galaxy J3 (2016), Galaxy J5, Galaxy S7 and Galaxy J7. At the same time, the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge sold 10 million more units during the year than their predecessors over a comparable period of time. This was facilitated by promotions, in which, in particular, flagship devices were sold complete with the Gear VR virtual reality helmet.
In the top ten most popular smartphones there was only one device not produced by Apple or Samsung. This is Oppo A53. In 2016, the Chinese company increased its shipments of smart phones by 109%, which allowed it to take fourth place in the list of the largest brands on the market. It is worth noting that more than 80% of Oppo phones are sold in the Middle Kingdom.
Sales growth despite decline in Samsung and Apple
On February 15, 2017, the analytical company Gartner published brief results of a study of the global smartphone market. Its volume increased by 5% despite a drop in sales from leading companies Samsung Electroncis and Apple.
According to Gartner, almost 1.5 billion smartphones were sold worldwide in 2016, up from 1.4 billion the year before. Samsung remained in first place in sales of these products, but the market share of the South Korean giant decreased over the year from 22.5% to 20.5%. Apple, which followed behind, also experienced a decline: the corporation's share fell from 15.9% to 14.4%.
Gartner research director Anshul Gupta notes that Samsung smartphone sales began declining in the third quarter of 2016 and continued to fall in the fourth due to the recall of the flagship Galaxy Note 7 model, which turned out to be unsafe for users.
In addition to the disastrous release of the Galaxy Note 7, Samsung's business was negatively impacted by competition from Chinese manufacturers such as Oppo, BBK, Huawei, ZTE, Xiaomi and Lenovo, which are actively strengthening their positions in foreign markets. In October-December 2016, Huawei, Oppo and BBK accounted for about 21.3% of the global smartphone market, which is 7.3 percentage points more than a year ago.
According to Anshul Gupta, sales of premium models helped Huawei close the gap with Samsung to 36 million smartphones sold in October-December 2016, against more than 50 million handsets in the same period the previous year.
Oppo in 2016 took fourth place in sales of smart phones globally and first place in the Middle Kingdom, which was facilitated by the release of devices with high performance, fast charging and advanced front cameras.
Growth of 6.6% thanks to Russia - GfK
On February 8, 2017, the analytical company GfK published the results of a study of the global smartphone market. Experts reported that device sales grew by 6.6%, thanks in part to the Russian and Ukrainian markets. Sales of smartphones in Russia increased by 10%.
According to GfK estimates, 1.4 billion smartphones were sold worldwide in 2016, compared to 1.32 billion the year before. Revenue rose to $428.9 billion from $398.1 billion.
The highest rise - 17 percent - was shown by China, where 385.3 million smartphones were sold in 2016. Sales of these electronics in Central and Eastern Europe, which includes Russia, increased by 16%.
Analysts did not provide annual figures for the Russian market, but reported an increase in smartphone sales in the Russian Federation by 10% in October-December 2016 compared to the same period in 2015. This rise was facilitated by the stabilization of the ruble. The volume of the Ukrainian smartphone market increased by 34% due to an improvement in the political situation, the study says.
According to GfK forecasts, in 2017, sales of smartphones in Central and Eastern Europe will increase by 8% and reach 84.4 million units.
In 2016, a decline in sales of smart phones in physical terms was recorded only in Western Europe (by 3%) and Latin America (by 1%). There was an increase in money everywhere, but in North America the dynamics were close to zero.
Analysts note that in the fourth quarter of 2016, the North American market was able to return to growth thanks to the release of flagship products and promotions carried out by mobile operators in the United States.
2015: The Chinese are one step away from leadership
On January 14, 2016, the analytical company TrendForce published the results of a study of the global smartphone market. Experts noted that Chinese manufacturers have almost caught up with leaders Apple and Samsung in terms of sales.
According to TrendForce, in 2015, global shipments of smartphones grew by 10.3% compared to the previous year and reached 1.3 billion units. Brands from the Middle Kingdom together produced 539 million pipes, or more than 40% of the total. A little more - 547 million devices - between them were prepared for sale by Samsung and Apple.
Experts expect that already in 2016, Chinese manufacturers will become the largest smartphone suppliers, occupying about 45% of the market. Thus, almost every second smartphone sold in the world will be a Chinese brand, notes TrendForce analyst Avril Wu.
In the top ten leading smartphone suppliers at the end of 2015, seven places were taken by companies from China. Huawei ranked highest, having shipped 108 million smartphones, which allowed the vendor to take third position after Samsung and Apple.
In recent years, Huawei has invested heavily in R&D, as well as developing its own mobile processors and amassing rich chip-related intellectual property. As a result, the company was able to strengthen its position in foreign markets, avoid patent disputes with competitors and launch production of products that are not inferior in quality and functionality to devices of international brands, TrendForce says.
Samsung remained the leading smartphone manufacturer in 2015, but the corporation's shipments decreased for the first time in history - by 1.8% to 320 million units. The South Korean giant's share fell from 28% to 25%.
Against the background of the failures of its competitor, Apple was able to get closer to it, gaining a 17.5 percent market share in 2015. This corresponds to 227 million iPhones released, which is 17.7% more than a year earlier.
2014
The Chinese are eating away Samsung's share
On November 24, 2014, the analytical company Intelligence published a graph reflecting the dynamics of changes in the positions of leading smartphone manufacturers in the period from the second quarter of 2008 to April-June 2014. Visual statistics were prepared based on data from research agencies IDC and Strategy Analytics.
Samsung's work in the smartphone market is complicated by Chinese competitors
As you can see in the illustration, in four years Samsung has become the undisputed leader in the global smartphone market, but since the beginning of 2014, the South Korean company has not been doing well.
Samsung is experiencing serious competitive pressure on two fronts: in the premium handset segment, the corporation is finding it difficult to compete with Apple, and in the low-cost device sector, pressure from Chinese manufacturers such as Lenovo, Huawei, ZTE and Xiaomi is increasing.
The latter, in just a few years, was able to transform itself from a little-known smartphone developer to the third largest manufacturer in the world in terms of the volume of shipments of these products. According to IDC analysts, in the third quarter of 2014, Xiaomi prepared 17.3 million smart phones for sale, which is three times more than a year earlier. The company's market share increased from 2.1% to 5.3%. Xiaomi expects that by the end of 2014, there will be 70 million active users of its smartphones globally.
The activity of Chinese competitors is undermining Samsung's business, which prompts the company to take drastic measures. According to The Wall Street Journal, the head of Samsung's smartphone and tablet division, J.K. Shin, will transfer his powers to the head of the consumer electronics division, B.K. Yoon.
Also in 2015, Samsung is going to reduce the range of smartphones by 25-30%, paying more attention to mid- and entry-level devices. IDC estimates the company's market share at 23.8% as of the third quarter of 2014. A year earlier, this figure was 32.5%.
Samsung's main hope in 2014 was the flagship model Galaxy S5, but demand for it turned out to be noticeably lower compared to its predecessor. In the three months since the Galaxy S5 hit stores in April, the device has sold 12 million units. Sales of the Galaxy S4 for the same time period in 2013 amounted to 16 million units.
eMarketer Forecast to 2018
According to eMarketer researchers, the total number of smartphones in active use on the planet will exceed the 2 billion mark for the first time by 2016 and will amount to 2.16 billion, up from 1.9 billion in 2015 and 1.6 billion devices in 2014.
The total number of smartphone users, according to Analysys Mason experts, will triple over the next five years and exceed 3.4 billion by 2017. However, the growth rate of new smartphone users is gradually slowing down, from 39% in 2011 to 29% in 2012. In 2013, the influx of new smartphone users is expected to decline by up to 20%.
As for the volume of smartphone supplies, they will grow from 700 million at the end of 2012 (which is 41.2% of the total supply of mobile phones), to 1.37 billion smartphones by the end of 2017 (then the volume of smartphone supplies will be 70 % of the total supply of mobile phones). Let's add to this that, according to the forecast, by 2017 the transition to a newer smartphone model will be the reason for purchasing a smartphone in three out of four cases, while now smartphones are purchased for this reason in less than half of the cases.
According to Gartner analysts, about 66% of mobile phones sold worldwide in the third quarter of 2014 were smartphones. However, if we consider the number of users (as they do in eMarketer), then the share of people who own smart handsets does not exceed 40% as of the end of 2014. Smartphones will become more common than regular phones only in 2018.
In 2018, smartphones will account for more than half of the mobile phones used by people around the world.
2012: Forecast of development of mobile platforms until 2017
Based on the results of July-September 2011. The number of deliveries of mobile gadgets to China amounted to 24 million compared to the same figure of 23 million in the United States. The agency's analysts also noted that during the reporting period, sales in China increased by 58%, while in the United States they decreased by 7%. The largest share of shipments fell on phones from Nokia Corporation (28.5%) and Samsung (17.6%).
Strategy Analytics spokesman Tom Kang noted that the increase in sales was driven by a "wave" of low-cost Android models from Chinese companies, as well as the growing availability of smartphones through retail channels.
Let us note that the center of global consumption is increasingly shifting from the United States to China every year. The Chinese economy, which is rapidly developing even in the most difficult crises, stimulates the growth of incomes of the population, which is happy to buy more and more cars, equipment and other durable goods. A couple of years earlier, China took the title of the largest car market from the United States, and this year - the title of the largest personal computer (PC) market.
Samsung - 48% of the global smartphone market in terms of shipments. 51.9 million mobile devices using this platform were sent to sales channels, which is 379% more than in the same period in 2010, reports Canalys. For comparison, shipments of smartphones on platforms of all types over the same period increased by 73% to 107.7 million units.
Android is the most popular platform in 35 of the 56 countries reviewed by analysts. The platform demonstrates particularly strong performance in countries of the Asia-Pacific region, such as South Korea and Taiwan, where its share is 85% and 71% of all smartphones shipped to the market, respectively. Android is the main driver of the global smartphone market and, as a result, the mobile terminal market as a whole. In the fourth quarter, it also took first place, but with a smaller share.
| “They decided that they were the market leaders and the rest should follow them, no matter what they did,” says Chichvarkin. He cites the example of another cell phone manufacturer - Samsung, which successfully produces smartphones and is generally “sitting on Apple’s tail.” Nokia has missed out on the touchscreen smartphone market, says Eldar Murtazin, leading analyst at Mobile Research Group. |
However, Nokia shareholders were not very upset. On July 21, 2011, at the beginning of the trading session on the NYSE, the Finnish company's depositary receipts rose in price by 3%.
Nokia is doing well in Russia. According to Euroset, in the first half of the year 8.9 million Nokia smartphones were sold here (22% of global sales), and the iPhone was an order of magnitude less, retaining only 0.8 million
| Company | Deliveries in 2010 | Market share in 2010 | Deliveries in 2009 | Market share in 2009 | Supply growth year on year |
| Nokia | 100,3 | 33,1 % | 67,7 | 39,0 % | 48,2 % |
| RIM | 48,8 | 16,1 % | 34,5 | 19,9 % | 41,4 % |
| Apple | 47,5 | 15,7 % | 25,1 | 14,5 % | 89,2 % |
| Samsung | 23,0 | 7,6 % | 5,5 | 3,2 % | 318,2 % |
| HTC | 21,5 | 7,1 % | 8,1 | 4,7 % | 165,4 % |
| Others | 61,5 | 20,3 % | 32,6 | 18,8 % | 88,7 % |
| Total | 302,6 | 100,0 % | 173,5 | 100,0 % | 74,4 % |
Phone sales are increasing significantly every year all over the world. Mobile devices are developed to use advanced technologies to meet the growing demands of customers. There are several companies such as Samsung, Nokia and Apple, which are the largest manufacturers of this kind of devices. Our review today presents the 10 best corporations specializing in the manufacture of smartphones.
1. Korean mobile device manufacturer - Samsung Group
Samsung Group is a South Korean company that is one of the largest corporations in South Korea. It was founded in 1938 by Lee Byung-chul in Daegu. The number of mobile phones sold per year is approximately 444 million units.
2. Smartphone manufacturing company - Huawei Technologies
Huawei Technologies is one of the largest Chinese telecommunications companies, founded by former member of the People's Liberation Army of China Ren Zhengfei in 1987. Its headquarters is located in Shenzhen. The position of CEO is occupied by Ren Zhenfei. The number of mobile phones sold per year is approximately 53 million units.
3. Smartphone manufacturing company - Coolpad Group Limited
Coolpad Group Limited is a telecommunications equipment company headquartered in Shenzhen, People's Republic of China. This brand is in 6th place in the list of the most popular smartphone manufacturers around the world. The number of mobile phones sold per year is approximately 32 million units.
4. Smartphone manufacturer - Alcatel
Alcatel is a mobile device and telecommunications company headquartered in the People's Republic of China. The number of phones sold per year is approximately 49 million units.
5. Korean company - LG Electronics
LG Electronics is a South Korean company that is one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer electronics and household appliances. The brand was founded in 1958 by Koo Inhwo in Seoul, South Korea. The position of CEO is occupied by Bong-Joon Koo. The number of mobile phones sold per year is approximately 69 million units.
6. Chinese company - Lenovo Group Limited
Lenovo Group Limited is a Chinese company that specializes in the production of computer equipment and mobile devices. The brand was founded back in 1984 by Louis Chuang in Beijing, People's Republic of China. The position of General Director is occupied by Yang Yuanqing. The number of phones sold per year is approximately 45 million units.
7. Chinese smartphone manufacturer - ZTE
ZTE is a young company that is the second largest manufacturer of telecommunications equipment and mobile phones in China. The headquarters is located in Shenzhen. The number of smartphones sold per year is approximately 59 million units.
8. American corporation - Apple
Apple is an American corporation, a manufacturer of personal and tablet computers, audio players, phones and software. The company was founded in April 1976 by Steve Jobs, Ronald Wayne and Steve Wozniak. The headquarters is located in Cupertino, California, United States of America. Tim Cook is the CEO. The number of mobile phones sold per year is approximately 150 million units.
9. Finnish company - Nokia
Nokia is a Finnish smartphone brand headquartered in Tampere, Finland. The company was founded in 1865 by Fredrik Idestam, Leopold Heinrich and Stanislav Mechelin. The position of CEO is occupied by Rajeev Suri. The number of mobile phones sold per year is approximately 250 million units.
10. Japanese company - Sony Corporation
Sony Corporation is one of the most famous smartphone manufacturing companies in the world, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The corporation was founded back in 1946 by Ibuko Masara and Akio Morita. The number of mobile phones sold per year is approximately 37 million. The position of CEO is occupied by Hirai Kazuo.
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