Huawei Lands Top Spot in Second Quarter Smartphone Market

Worldwide smartphone shipments decreased 16.0% year over year in the second quarter of 2020 (2Q20), according to preliminary data from IDC. In total, companies shipped 278.4 million smartphones during 2Q20. Although this a larger decline than in the first quarter, it was expected as major economies around the globe were in lockdown for the majority of 2Q20 due to the pandemic.

"Smartphones shipments suffered a huge decline in Q2 as they directly correlate to consumer spending, which had a massive reduction due to the global economic crisis and rising unemployment brought on by the widespread lockdowns," said Nabila Popal, research director with IDC's Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers. "This, combined with the closure of retail stores, especially in regions where online shopping is less common, compounded the negative effect on smartphone sales. In addition, consumers spent significantly other technologies, such as PCs, monitors, and tablets, to facilitate mandatory work from home and distance learning, leaving an even smaller share in the shrinking consumer wallet for smartphones.

From a regional perspective, Asia/Pacific (excluding China and Japan), Western Europe, and the United States declined 31.9%, 14.8%, and 12.6% respectively. China fared slightly better with a decline of 10.3% and arguably shows some early signs of market recovery. "The smartphone supply chain ground to a halt when the pandemic hit. However, recovery, specifically in China, has been strong," said Ryan Reith, vice president, Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers. "The question now becomes what does demand look like with so much uncertainty around the world. We have already seen OEMs moving more aggressively with their 5G portfolios both in terms of production and price points. However, we still see consumer demand for 5G being low, so the supply-side push is likely to produce very high-priced competition.

Huawei  reached the number 1 position for the first time with 55.8 million smartphones shipped in 2Q20 despite a small decline of 5.1% year over year. With the overall market declining even faster, Huawei also achieved its highest-ever share (20.0%) of the global smartphone market. This was driven by Huawei's tremendous growth in China, almost 10% year on year, which offset the large declines the company faced in every other region.

Samsung shipped 54.2 million smartphones in 2Q20, finishing a close second with 19.5% share. However, the Korean giant suffered a 28.9% year-on-year decline, the most significant among the Top 5 vendors. While the A series continues to perform well contributing to the majority of its volume, premium devices such the Galaxy S20 and the Galaxy Z Flip, unfortunately launched in the peak of the pandemic, are facing sales challenges despite price reductions.

Apple shipped 37.6 million iPhones in 2Q20, which placed the company in third with 13.5% share of the market. iPhone shipments managed to climb 11.2% year over year thanks to the continued success of its iPhone 11 series and the timely launch of the new SE (2020). Xiaomi shipped 28.5 million devices maintaining its number four position and achieving a 10.2% market share despite a decline of 11.8%. OPPO returned to the Top 5 this quarter with 24.0 million units and 8.6% market share despite a 18.8% year-on-year decline.