According to the latest research from Strategy Analytics, global smartphone shipments grew 2 percent annually to reach 366 million units in the third quarter of 2019. This is the smartphone industry’s first period of positive growth for two years. Samsung maintained first position with 21 percent global smartphone marketshare, Huawei rose to a record 18 percent, while Apple held 12 percent marketshare in third place.

Global smartphone shipments grew 2 percent annually from 359.8 million units in Q3 2018 to 366.3 million in Q3 2019. The global smartphone market grew for the first time since the third quarter of 2017. Worldwide demand for smartphones is recovering, due to strong pricing competition among vendors and new innovations such as larger screens and 5G connectivity.

Samsung shipped 78.2 million smartphones worldwide in Q3 2019, jumping 8 percent annually from 72.3 million units in Q3 2018. Samsung has lifted its global smartphone marketshare from 20 percent to 21 percent in the past year. Strong sales of the premium Galaxy Note 10 and mass-market A Series models boosted Samsung’s smartphone shipments and profit during the quarter. Huawei once again surprised everyone and grew its global smartphone shipments by an impressive 29 percent annually from 51.8 million during Q3 2018 to 66.7 million in Q3 2019. Huawei captured a record 18 percent global smartphone marketshare in Q3 2019, up sharply from 14 percent a year ago. Huawei surged at home in China during the quarter, as the firm sought to offset regulatory uncertainty in other major regions such as North America and Western Europe.

Apple iPhone shipments fell 3 percent annually from 46.9 million units worldwide in Q3 2018 to 45.6 million in Q3 2019. Despite the slight decline, this was actually Apple’s best growth performance since last year. We believe Apple is stabilizing, due to cheaper iPhone 11 pricing and healthier demand across Asia and the United States.

Xiaomi maintained fourth place, capturing 9 percent global smartphone marketshare in Q3 2019, slightly down from a year ago. Xiaomi is losing ground in core markets of India and China, due to fierce competition from Huawei, Realme and others. OPPO took fifth position with 8 percent global smartphone marketshare during the quarter, slipping from 9 percent share a year ago. OPPO is expanding hard into Western Europe, with new models like the Reno 5G, but it is coming under severe pressure at home in China from a resurgent Huawei.

Exhibit 1: Global Smartphone Vendor Shipments and Marketshare in Q3 2019  [1]

[1]  Numbers are rounded.