Overview

This report is one of the series of reports which tracks mobile handset: Smartphone and Feature Phone shipments every quarter for more than 140 brands covering more than 95% of the total device shipments in the industry. 

• Global mobile phone shipments reached 492 million units globally in Q3 2018 with a YoY growth of -3%.
• Global smartphone shipments reached 380 million units in Q3 2018 with 5% annual decline. It can be attributed to a weakening demand in developed markets like China, USA and Western Europe which account for almost half of smartphone sales globally. The lack of meaningful innovation and improvement in smartphone build quality is leading to lengthening replacement cycles.
• Featurephone shipments increased both annually and sequentially. The growth can be attribute to Tecno and iTel in Middle East. Transsion group reached their highest ever shipment in Nigeria in Q3 2018.
• Top 10 OEMs almost contribute to 79% of the global smartphone market, thereby leaving 600+ brands competing for the remaining 21% of the market.
• China’s smartphone market has declined continued to decline for fifth consecutive quarter. To offset the weak demand in the home market, Chinese brands will further expand outside China as they push into Asia Pacific countries and Europe.  
• Samsung continued to lead the smartphone market with 19% market share in the quarter. Smartphone shipments for Samsung declined for the fourth consecutive quarter, even though the company recorded its highest smartphone shipments ever in India.
• Oppo, Xiaomi and Vivo Reached Their Highest Ever Shipments in a Single Quarter, Despite a Global Slowdown.
• Huawei  holds on to 2nd position for the second consecutive quarter. It grew 33% annually.
• While Apple iPhone shipments remained flat annually, revenues for the devices grew 29% with a record average selling price of $793.
• Nokia HMD is the fastest growing (73% YoY) smartphone brand in Q3 2018. This can be attributed to its popularity in Indian and South East Asian market.
• Emerging market growth could not offset the decline in China & other developed markets. Chinese OEMs are driving up the ASP in the low to mid-tier price segments in emerging markets by offering competitive specifications at affordable prices. However, considering the macro economic factors in many of these emerging markets, many challenges still lie ahead. It will take more than an affordable smartphone offering to make users switch from their feature phone to a smartphone in the short-term.

Table of Content

• Pivot Chart by Brand
• Pivot Chart by Geography
• Global
• Asia Pacific
• China
• India
• Japan
• Korea
• Key Asian Countries
• North America
• US
• Canada
• Europe
• Western Europe
• Central and Eastern Europe
• Key European Countries
• Central and Latin America
• Key Central and Latin America Countries
• Middle East and Africa
• Key Middle East and Africa Countries
• Flatfile
• Definitions
• Contacts

Author: Tarun Pathak 

Published Date: November 2018