Huawei pips Apple to take 2nd spot in global smartphone tally, Samsung leads: Analysts

Chinese tech major Huawei has surpassed Apple to become the second largest smartphone player globally during the June 2018 quarter as the Cupertino giant registered slow sales in India and flat shipment in China, according to multiple industry reports.

Samsung continued to enjoy its leadership position in the global smartphone market, even though its shipments declined in the April-June 2018 quarter over last year, reports by IDC, Counterpoint Research and Canalys pointed out.

The reports said Huawei registered shipments of about 54 million units, giving it 15-16 per cent market share. Apple, on the other hand, shipped about 41.3 million units and had 11-12 per cent share.

Samsung shipped over 71 million units to command over 20 per cent market share during the said quarter, the reports showed.

Xiaomi and Oppo took the fourth and fifth spots in the global smartphone tally with 9 per cent and 8 per cent market share, respectively.

According to Counterpoint Research Associate Director Tarun Pathak, Huawei shipped more smartphones than Apple to capture the second spot in the global smartphone rankings, after seven years of Apple-Samsung dominance.

"Huawei achieved this by launching smartphones in the premium segment and capturing the mid-tier segment with its fast-growing Honor sub-brand. Huawei with its Honor brand is offering a broad and refreshed portfolio at affordable price which is driving growth in the overseas market," he added.

Counterpoint's report said Apple saw shipments remaining flat in China year-on-year during the quarter, while it was a "slow quarter" for the company in India.

Canalys, in its report, said Apple's iPhone sell-in of 41 million units in the June 2018 quarter is "within its typical range for the second quarter".

"Q2 has always been seasonally weak for Apple... While the iPhone X succeeded in generating volume in the previous quarters despite its hefty price tag, it has been unable to sustain that volume this quarter... If Apple and Samsung want to maintain their market positions, they must make their portfolios more competitive," Canalys Senior Analyst Ben Stanton said.

IDC estimates that vendors shipped a total of 342 million units during the second quarter of 2018, a decline of 1.8 per cent from the year-ago period.