Apple became the No.1 smartphone brand in the world in Q4 2019

Strategy Analytics' latest research report points out that global smartphone shipments in Q4 2019 were 375 million, which was stable compared with the same period last year. Apple ranked first with a 19% global smartphone market share, Samsung ranked second, and Huawei fell to third with a 15% market share. The total smartphone shipments in 2019 totaled 1.4 billion units.

Qian Sui, Director at Strategy Analytics, said: “Global smartphone shipments grew from 376.0 million units in Q4 2018 to 374.5 million in Q4 2019, a growth rate of about zero. Currently, global smartphone demand remains mixed, with a sharp decline in the Chinese market balanced by strong growth in the Indian and African markets. Due to inventory growth in the second half of the year, full-year smartphone shipments reached 1.41 billion units in 2019, down 1% from 1.43 billion units in 2018. Looking ahead, the US trade war and the panic over the new coronavirus in China will be obstacles to smartphone growth in 2020.”

Neil Mawston, Executive Director at Strategy Analytics, added: “Apple’s global iPhone shipments grew 7% year-on-year from 65.9 million units in Q4 2018 to 70.7 million units in Q4 2019. This is Apple’s best growth performance since 2015. Over the past year, Apple’s global smartphone market share has increased from 18% to 19%. Apple is gradually recovering due to the lower price of the iPhone 11 and healthier demand in Asia and North America. Samsung’s global smartphone shipments fell 1% year-on-year from 69.3 million in Q4 2018 to 68.8 million in Q4 2019; its global market share was flat at 18% year-on-year. Samsung continued to perform well across all price points, from entry-level to high-end models such as the Galaxy Note 10+ 5G. For the full year, Samsung still ranked first in 2019 with 21% market share.”

Woody Oh, Director at Strategy Analytics, added: “Huawei’s global smartphone shipments were 56 million units in Q4 2019, down 7% year-on-year from 60.5 million units in Q4 2018. Huawei’s global market share has fallen from 16% to 15% over the past year. Despite strong sales of 5G smartphones, Huawei’s development in the domestic Chinese market is slowing and it faces more intense competition in key markets such as Europe.”

Qian Sui, Director at Strategy Analytics, added: “Xiaomi maintained its fourth position, capturing 9% of the global smartphone market in Q4 2019, compared to just 7% a year ago. Xiaomi’s business performed well in Western Europe and remained stable in its largest market, India. Xiaomi is working hard to move into the 5G smartphone category, which will be a strong growth area for the vendor in 2020. OPPO ranked fifth with 8% of the global smartphone market share in Q4 2019, the same as a year ago. OPPO is expanding aggressively into Western Europe with new models such as the Reno 5G, but it remains under continued pressure from Huawei.”