Q2 Smartphone Shipments Flat: Samsung Leads, Apple Slips

“We continue to see a number of changing dynamics in the smartphone market and many vendors are readjusting their business strategy and portfolio to take advantage of these market movements,” Ryan Reith, IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Device Trackers program vice president, commented.

“Mature markets continue the transition away from pure subsidy and over to EIP programs, and Apple is beginning to put more emphasis on ‘device as a service’ to try to prevent lengthening replacement cycles. This is a growing theme we have heard more about from PCs to smartphones.”

Reith noted the overall China market slowdown has seen competition continuing to ramp up in other high-growth markets, including India, Indonesia and the Middle East.

“Interestingly enough, our early findings show low-end Chinese OEMs that predominantly built their business domestically in China are having success penetrating non-China markets, despite low-end competition from local brands already in place,” he commented.

The top five vendors remained the same as the previous quarter, with Samsung leading the way from Apple, followed by Huawei, Oppo and Vivo.

Samsung grew its market share to 22.4 per cent, up from 21.3 per cent year-on-year, with shipment volumes of 77 million up from 73 million, while Apple’s market share slipped from 13.9 per cent to 11.8 per cent, with shipment volumes of 40.4 million down from 47.5 million.

The IDC noted the strong performance of Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S7 and S7 edge, while observing that the second quarter is seasonally the lowest of the year for Apple, as consumers hold off on purchases ahead of the next big launch in the third quarter.

While Apple did record declining shipments, the IDC noted that it witnessed “strong sales in both established and emerging markets thanks to the launch of the more affordable iPhone SE”.

“Outside of Samsung’s Galaxy S7 flagship, a majority of vendors, including Apple, have found success with more affordable models compared to their flagship handsets,” Anthony Scarsella, IDC research manager, mobile phones, commented.

“As smartphone prices continue to drop and competition escalates at the high-end, vendors will need to continue to push ‘flagship-type’ devices at affordable price points to encourage upgrading on a more frequent basis.

“Chinese brands such as Huawei, Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi have witnessed success with this strategy by shipping premium-styled devices that focus on the features that matter most to consumers, such as imaging, sound quality and design.”