Samsung leads global smartphone market, Huawei pips Apple

New Delhi South Korean giant Samsung continued to be the global leader in the first half of 2018 with 20 per cent market share and Chinese tech conglomerate Huawei surpassed Apple to become the second largest smartphone brand worldwide a new report said on WednesdayHuawei had 15 percent market share followed by Apple at 11 percent as global smartphone shipments declined 2 percent to 360 million units annually in Q2 JanuaryJune period said Counterpoint Researchs Market Monitor serviceHuawei had a good second quarter in 2018 as it shipped more smartphones than Apple to capture the second spot in the global smartphone rankings after 7 years of AppleSamsung dominance said Tarun Pathak Associate Director at Counterpoint ResearchHuawei with its subbrand Honor is offering a broad and refreshed portfolio at affordable price which is driving growth in the overseas marketHonor which is already strong in the ecommerce segment is now adopting a multichannel strategy through branded stores in the southeast Asia market We expect store counts to increase in the future Pathak notedSamsung led the smartphone market by volume even though it registered an annual decline of 11 percent owing to weak sales of its flagship Galaxy S9 series smartphonesIt shipped 716 million units while Huawei did 542 million handsets in the second halfEven as Samsung smartphone shipment volumes declined globally the brand posted a record second quarter in India regaining its top position in Indian smartphone market said the reportSamsung will launch its Galaxy Note 9 flagship soon to counter the string of premium segment launches by its competitors and to gain some momentum before the launch of new iPhone in SeptemberIt will also focus on launching newer models with high specs in each price segment to counter the growing competitionHuawei managed to be the fastest growing 21 percent smartphone brand amid a declining China smartphone market and grew fully 71 percent overseas with its shipments growing 41 percent annually in the second halfApple shipped 413 million iPhones during Q2 2018 up 1 per cent compared to the same quarter last yearTop 10 players now capture 79 percent of the market thereby leaving over 600 brands to compete for the remaining 21 percent of the marketMajor Chinese brands like OPPO Vivo Huawei are now focusing on increasing their average selling prices ASPs by bringing in features like artificial intelligence bezelless displays dual cameras and innovative industrial designs in the affordable premium segment explained Research Analyst Shobhit SrivastavaXiaomi shipped 33 million smartphones globally capturing 9 percent market share of the smartphone sectorOPPO and Vivo were the fifth and sixth largest brands during the quarter capturing 8 per cent and 7 per cent market share respectivelyLenovo including Motorola captured the eighth spot with a market share of 3 per centCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever