Key Takeaways:

• Global Sell-in Declined Marginally, Sell-Through Inclined. Global sell-through was healthy in North America and Western Europe due to the various marketing events at the year-end. However, China demand was slow compared to last year, despite 11.11 sales. Sell-in dropped 1% MoM in November due to the sluggish China market and Chinese vendors being cautious. This helped decrease inventory to a healthy level which creates hope for possible growth in 2019.
• Apple Grows, While Other Brands Struggle To Keep Up. During October 2018, Apple sell-through increased 20.1% MoM but declined 12% on YoY basis. This is primarily due to the iPhone X sales cycle from the previous year. Apple sell-through this month was driven by its flagship devices, including the iPhone XR which is witnessing strong uptake. Samsung declined 3.3% MoM and 13.5% YoY. Samsung is slowly losing grip on the premium market. The competition is intense with the new iPhones, Huawei Mate 20/Pro and now OnePlus 6/6T. Samsung’s focus has now shifted to the A-series models, which registered strong growth in November.
• Share of Ultra-Premium ($800 & above) and Premium (600-$799) Grows. The ultra-premium ($800 & above) price band continues to show strong sales primarily driven by Apple devices – iPhone XS/Max and previous generation iPhone X. Huawei’s Mate 20 Pro has made space for itself in this price band with more than 500k shipments in November. The $600~$799 premium price band also gained significantly with Apple’s iPhone XR driving the whole price band with 6.6M shipments. Galaxy Note 9 was the next top-selling model.
• Topical Reports: Smartphone Display Trends and Huawei Global Mobile Broadband Forum 2018. Smartphones’ displays are getting bigger, regardless of the OS. Bigger screen smartphones are closely linked to increased use of photography, video, games and multitasking. For Apple, two of the three new models in 2018 were equipped with >6” display, the share of >6” is expected to reach 25% by end of 2018. Huawei addressed its role in 5G at the Global Mobile Broadband Forum. Huawei has won 22 commercial contracts across various regions, and it is engaged with 50 carriers on 5G commercial trials. It has shipped 10,000 5G base stations to customers already.

Table of Contents: 

• Key Takeaways
• Global Market Status
  • Market Sizing – Demand & Supply / Price band
  • Market Share – Vendor / Price band
• Major Country Landscape
  • US Market Landscape
  • China Market Landscape
  • India Market Landscape
• Trends in Features and Specs
  • Hardware trends and feature adoption rates
  • Average feature sets
  • Vendor market share by feature set
• Hit Model Analysis
• Monthly Research Topic
  • Smartphone Display Trends 2018
  • Huawei Mobile Broadband Forum 2018

Number of Pages: 63
Author: Counterpoint
Published Date: December 2018