Counterpoint: For the first time in 2 years, Apple sells more smartphones than both Samsung and Huawei

The latest data from Counterpoint Research shows that the overall situation of the global smartphone market is still quite bleak: the number of smartphones shipped in the whole year of 2019 reached 1.486 billion units, down 1% compared to 2018. However, in In April, smartphone production increased by 3.5% over the same period of 2018, promising a brighter 2020.

Samsung: The absolute king of the smartphone market

At the end of a long time for Chinese rivals, Samsung has made an impressive comeback in 2019. The total number of Galaxy smartphones shipped in the year reached 296.5 million units, an increase of 1, 5% compared to 291.8 million units in 2018. The number 1 position is firmly in the hands of the Korean giant as its market share increases from 19% to 20%.

The success of Galaxy A helped Samsung consolidate its leading position.

According to Counterpoint, this strong rise is largely due to the success of the Galaxy A series. In the US, a capital market often prefers top models over low-cost phones.

The figures specifically for the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy Note10 are not disclosed, but Counterpoint also pointed out that Samsung has shipped 6.7 million 5G smartphones. The only unhappy sign for Samsung is that, despite the growth at the end of the year, Samsung lost No. 1 to Apple in the fourth quarter.

Huawei: Crush Apple, but the future is more worrying than ever

Without a doubt, Huawei has completely defeated Apple in terms of market share. With 238.5 million smartphones shipped, Huawei grew by 16% and coincidentally also holds a 16% market share, up to 3% more than its US rival.

Strong growth in 2019 thanks to the support of Chinese people, but Huawei will step into 2020 with many challenges.

The question is whether the Chinese giant can continue to maintain its victory? As Counterpoint mentioned, 60% of Huawei smartphones are sold in China. This is an important victory in the US-China trade war, but it is a worrying sign in Europe and other international markets: due to Google stopping cooperation, Huawei is having to sell the old models ( still have the right to use official Android). As rivals continue to launch new models, Huawei’s international market share will continue to evaporate.

Concerns about the future were most evident in the fourth quarter when Huawei’s output reached only 56 million units. Compared to the same period in 2018, this figure shows that for the first time, Huawei production has decreased. The Chinese giant’s market share in this quarter was only 14%. If it continues to face a U.S. ban, Huawei’s troubles will continue in 2020.

Apple: Losing No. 2, but ending the year on top

The trio of 2019 iPhones have been unexpectedly successful.

The relatively low demand for the iPhone XR and iPhone XS has caused Apple to suffer a sad 2019: the total number of iPhones shipped in the year reached 196.2 million units, equivalent to a 14% decrease compared to 2018. 13% market share also made Apple lose the No. 2 position to Huawei.

However, Apple still shows formidable power when ending 2019 with the No. 1 position in the world. According to Counterpoint, this success is due to the better-than-expected reception for the iPhone 11: with 72.9 million units of sales for the year-end quarter, Apple reached 18% market share, beating Samsung and Huawei. – 2 competitors had only 14% market share in Q4.

Xiaomi, Motorola and OPPO / Vivo: Chinese 2019

2019 is the year of the Chinese when all the major brands in this country are growing. In No. 4, “Apple of Asia” is Xiaomi reached 124.5 million units. The two biggest brands of BBK, op and Vivo, are also growing, with Vivo up to 13 million units to reach 113.7 million smartphones, ranking at No. 6. Despite an increase of only 0.8 million, OPPO is still in 5th place. This is not really a sad signal because its subsidiary brand Realme has grown to … 600%, from 4.7 million smartphones for 2018 to 25.7 million units for 2019.

2019 is truly the year of the Chinese smartphone.

Motorola’s parent company, Lenovo, is still making steady progress when it comes to number 7, even though its production is only one-third of that of OPPO or Xiaomi. On the other hand, LG – the No. 2 representative from South Korea in the top 10 – is still evaporating from the global rankings when production in 2019 dropped to 11 million units. If this decline continues, LG may soon disappear in the way of Sony and HTC, leaving the top 10 for Apple, Samsung and Chinese rivals.