Smartphone shipment has not been what it used to be for some time now with the major markets not doing so well as expected. There is a trade war between the US and China as well as a bunch of other difficulties with the economy in some other markets. According to reports from IDC, a grand total of 333.2 million smartphones was shipped in the second quarter of this year. Although this a 2.3% YoY decline from what was shipped in the second quarter of last year, it is still better than that of the first quarter of 2019. In that regard, there was a 6.5% increase in smartphone shipment over the last quarter which is a first since the second quarter of last year.
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This might just be a sign that the smartphone market is stabilizing after months of downward skidding smartphone shipment. To an extent, this is fueled by the growth in the Asian market especially India where smartphone shipment has been on a steady climb up quarter on quarter since last year except for Japan and China which only joined this quarter. The top 5 smartphones maker still hold a strong position in the market with the number of smartphones shipped by them on an increase despite their percentage share decreasing by 7.8 percent from 76.8 percent to 69 percent. However, the top ten smartphones in shipment hold a strong 87 percent of the market which will make it tough on upcoming brands to breakthrough.
In the individual scene, Oppo increases its market share by 6.4 percent from last quarter thereby returning to the top five spot displacing Vivo which is no surprise considering that the margin between them in the previous quarter was very thin. The percentage share of the top three smartphones all dropped by 0.34%(Samsung), 1.4%(Huawei), and 1.6%(Apple) respectively. However, Huawei did quite well considering the US sanction that they faced denying them from resources from Google, Qualcomm, and others. It retains its position as the second on the list thanks to China which accounts for 62% of a total of 58.7 million units shipped this second quarter as opposed to 59.1 million from the first quarter of the year.
Apple smartphone shipment continues to drop although they remain very profitable nearing a trillion in value again this year. On the other hand, XIaomi was able to increase its market share by 7,3 percent quarter on quarter, shipping 32.3 million units just 1.5 million behind Apple which is the closest they have gotten ever. We might just be looking at Xiaomi catching up with Apple in terms of units shipped.
In conclusion, the surge in smartphone shipment can be attributed to the availability of more sophisticated mid-range smartphones with specs that continue to come close to what the flagships offer. The perceived value for money has driven the increase in the units shipped. In addition, the exchange of old devices for some discount in the acquisition of new ones have also had a positive effect on the matter.
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