Global smartphone market 'in freefall' as shipments fall 6.8% in Q1 - Canalys

The global smartphone market remained “in freefall” in Q1 2019, contracting for a sixth consecutive quarter with shipments down 6.8 percent to 313.9 million units, according to the latest report from Canalys. The figure was the lowest in nearly five years, led by Apple, which posted the largest single-quarter decline in the history of the iPhone and lost its second place in the ranking to China’s Huawei. However, the smartphone market continues to consolidate as it shrinks, said Canalys, with the top five vendors’ combined worldwide market share rising from 66.8 percent to 72.0 percent over the past year.

Samsung remained the leading vendor with a 22.8 percent share after shipping an estimated 71.5 million smartphones, down 10.0 percent from a year earlier. Huawei surged past Apple to take second spot, increasing shipments by 50.2 percent year on year to reach a market share of 18.8 percent on the back of 59.1 million unit shipments. Apple posted the largest drop as iPhone shipments fell 23.2 percent to 40.2 million units for a 12.8 percent market share, said Canalys.

Two other Chinese firms – Xiaomi and Oppo – rounded out the top 5. Xiaomi is now the dominant player in India and shipped 27.8 million handsets worldwide in Q1 to reach 8.9 percent of the market, followed by Oppo with 27.3 million shipments, up 6.4 percent year on year, to account for 8.7 percent of the market.