According to Gartner, global smartphone sales are down by -2.7% Y-o-Y to 373 million units in Q1 2019, as slowdown in flagship handset innovation and rising prices continue to extend replacement cyles.
“Demand for premium smartphones remained lower than for basic smartphones, which affected brands such as Samsung and Apple that have significant stakes in high-end smartphones,” the analyst says. “In addition, demand for utility smartphones declined as the rate of upgrading from feature phones to smartphones has slowed, given that 4G feature phones give users great advantages at a lower cost.”
Samsung remains on top of the vendor rankings, even if sales are down by -8.8% Y-o-Y to 71.6m units. The S. Korean giant did see good response for the flagship Galaxy S10 portfolio, but it only started shipping the devices at the end of Q1 2019. The company also refreshed the mid- and entry-tier A and J series, and launched the M series, but aggressive Chinese competition limits the impact of such devices.
In 2nd place is Huawei, with the most growth among the top 5 (44.5% Y-o-Y) on sales reaching 58.4m units. The company sees strong growth of 33% Y-o-Y in Europe and dominates the Greater Chinese market, but faces a major upset if the threat of unavailability of Google apps and services on Huawei smartphones is implemented. In the least something of the sort should lead to apprehension among buyers, limiting near-term growth.
Global iPhone sales total 44.6m units in Q1 2019, a -17.6 Y-o-Y decline, leading Apple to 3rd place in the Gartner smartphone vendor rankings. A price cut across markets did help drive demand, but it wasn't enough to restore growth. The company also faces longer replacement cycles, since users fail to see enough value benefits to justify replacing existing iPhones.
Vivo beats Xiaomi to the 5th spot in Q1 2019, with sales reaching 27.4m. Xiaomi sold 27.2m units. Vivo smartphones offer popular features, such as an in-display fingerprint scanner, slider camera, fast charging and almost bezel-less displays, leading to double-digit sales growth.
