If Apple Doesn't Launch A 5G iPhone Soon Enough, It Will Lose Its Leading Position

Apple’s smartphone shipments may continue declining in 2019 as IDC predicts that this year will be challenging for the company if it does not launch a 5G phone. However, a Monday report from the market research company added that if Apple can roll out a 5G iPhone, shipments will rise again because the company has the advantage of a better understanding of the 5G market.

We can’t tell what announcements Apple will make at its next big event except for the iPhone 11 lineup, but it’s highly likely that we won’t see any 5G iPhones this year. Its presentation may include just minor upgrades to the current phones. Many rivals have already unveiled their 5G phones and even released them, such as the Galaxy S10 5G from Samsung.

According to IDC, this will likely cause iPhone shipments to go down by 15 percent, resulting in 177.9 million units this year. To compare, Android is predicted to have its market share grow from 85 to 87 percent in 2019 with the push from the new phones.

IDC’s VP of worldwide mobile device trackers program Ryan Reith said:

On Monday, IDC said that with ear-worn devices, Apple maintained its top position with 50 percent of total market share in the second quarter this year. Its total shipments were nearly 16 million units, mostly Beats headphones and AirPods in Q2, a growth of over 200 percent.

Samsung, while taking the second place, had a much lower number with 3.3 million hearables shipped. Besides, Xiaomi stood the third with 2.1 million units; Bose had the fourth-highest shipments registering 1.8 million, and the fifth was ReSound with 1.6 million devices. However, among these five firms, Xiaomi had the greatest growth, it shipped 714. 8 percent more units than Q2 last year, which is attributed to the AirDots.