Q3 2019: Samsung Still No. 1, Huawei Far Ahead Of Apple, Xiaomi Is In Decline

According to the latest report of International Data Corporation (IDC), the number of smartphones shipped worldwide has increased slightly in the third quarter of 2019. Overall, the smartphone market has 358.3 million smartphones shipped, an increase of 0.8% over the previous year and an increase of 8.1% compared to the previous quarter. Samsung is still the largest smartphone maker in the world in the period.

Samsung is still the world's largest smartphone manufacturer, with 78.2 million smartphones shipped and capturing 21.8% of the global market share, up 8.3% from last year.

In second place is Huawei, with 66.6 million smartphones shipped and accounting for 18.6% of the market share. Most impressive is the 28.2% growth compared to last year, the highest of all smartphone manufacturers.

That's why Huawei continues to outstrip Apple, which only shipped 46.6 million iPhones and accounted for 13% of the market share. Apple's growth rate is -0.6%.

Xiaomi ranked fourth, with 32.7 million smartphones and accounting for 9.1% of the market share, a growth rate of 3.3%. OPPO entered the top 5, with 31.2 million smartphones and an 8.7% market share.

Huawei recorded a record growth in Q3 / 2018, despite a US ban that prevented new smartphones from being sold in the US. The ban itself was expected to hurt Apple more due to Chinese consumers' campaign boycotting U.S. products to support domestic goods. However, according to sales figures of Alibaba’s Singles’ Day, the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max are two of the best-selling products in the event.

Meanwhile, Xiaomi fell by 3.3% over the same period last year. This is an alarm signal because Xiaomi has always used a strategy of offering low prices to boost sales to offset the low profit margin. Part of it is Huawei's dominance in the Chinese market, and the rest due to competition from brands like Oppo, Vivo and Honor in the low- and mid-range smartphones.