Worldwide smartphone shipments grew 6 percent annually in Q3, to reach 375 million units, according to the latest research from Strategy Analytics.
Samsung topped the market-share ranking, with 20 percent of the global smartphone, while Oppo (yes Oppo) was the biggest gainer with 140 percent annual growth.
Linda Sui, director at Strategy Analytics, added, “Oppo shipped a record 21.6 million smartphones and maintained fourth position with 6 percent global market share in Q3, outperforming all its major rivals. Oppo is very popular in China and is internationalizing rapidly across India, Asia and other emerging markets.”
“This was the smartphone industry’s fastest growth rate for a year,” Sui added. “As expected, the global smartphone market reached a bottom in the first half of 2016, and the growth outlook for the second half of this year is improving due to several big new product launches from Apple, Huawei and others.”
Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics, commented, “Samsung shipped 75.3 million smartphones worldwide in Q3, falling 10 percent annually from 83.8 million units in Q3 2015. This was Samsung’s slowest growth rate for almost two years. Its global smartphone market share has dipped from 24 percent to 20 percent in the past year”
“Samsung’s recent Galaxy Note 7 recall was handled badly, which dented its brand image and left a large product gap in its premium smartphone lineup,” added Mawston. “Samsung will now be looking to its next flagship launch, such as the rumored Galaxy S8 model, to recover momentum in 2017.”
Apple, meanwhile, dropped 5 percent annually and shipped just 45.5 million smartphones worldwide in Q3 of this year, he said. “Apple’s global smartphone market share has softened from 14 percent to 12 percent in the past year,” noted Mawston. “Apple has been given a slight boost by Samsung’s Note 7 missteps, but it continues to face iPhone fatigue among many consumers in major regions such as China and Europe.”
Woody Oh, director at Strategy Analytics, added, “Huawei maintained third position with 9 percent global smartphone market share in Q3, up from 8 percent a year ago. Huawei’s smartphone growth rate has more than halved, to 26 percent annually in Q3 2016, compared with 62 percent annual growth in Q3 2015. Huawei is facing intense competition from Oppo, Vivo and other emerging Chinese rivals such as fast-growing LeEco.”