Smartphone Shipments Experience Deeper Decline in 1Q19, Huawei with more than 50% YoY growth

Challenges within the smartphone market carried right into the first quarter of 2019 (1Q19) with shipment volumes down 6.6% year over year, according to IDC.

Smartphone vendors shipped a total of 310.8 million units, which marked the sixth consecutive quarter of decline. In 2018, smartphone shipments dropped 4.1% over 2017, which was inclusive of a first quarter that was down 3.5%, just half of what the market experienced in 1Q19.

This quarter's results are a clear sign that 2019 will be another down year for worldwide smartphone shipments. The only highlight from a vendor perspective was Huawei, which made a strong statement by growing volume and share despite market headwinds.

From a geographic standpoint, while the China market will likely be challenged for the remainder of 2019, it was the U.S. market that felt the worst of the downturn in 1Q19. Smartphone volumes declined 15% as replacement rates continue to slow in one of the world's largest markets. Apple iPhone challenges contributed to the exceptionally poor 1Q19 in the U.S., but they were not alone as Samsung, LG, and other top vendors also witnessed declining volumes during the quarter.

Samsung saw volumes drop 8.1% in 1Q19 with shipments of 71.9 million. The results were enough to keep Samsung in the top spot of the market, but Huawei is continuing to close the gap between the two smartphone leaders.

Huawei moved its way into a clear number two spot as the only smartphone vendor at the top of the market that saw volumes grow during 1Q19. Impressively, the company had year-over-year growth of 50.3% in 1Q19 with volumes of 59.1 million units and a 19.0% market share. Huawei is now within striking distance of Samsung at the top of the global market.

Apple had a challenging first quarter as shipments dropped to 36.4 million units representing a staggering 30.2% decline from last year. The iPhone struggled to win over conusmers in most major markets as competitors continue to eat away at Apple's market share. Price cuts in China throughout the quarter along with favorable trade-in deals in many markets were still not enough to encourage consumers to upgrade.

Xiaomi also experienced a decline in 1Q19 with volumes of 25.0 million, which was down 10.2% year over year. Despite its continued movement into Europe and other regions, Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan) remains its most important region with China, India, and Indonesia accounting for the bulk of its volume in the region.

vivo returned to the top 5 with volumes of 23.2 million and a market share of 7.5%, tying it with OPPO for the number 5 position. Other than Huawei, vivo was the only other vendor at the top of the market that was able to grow shipments in 1Q19 with volumes up 24.0% over 1Q18. OPPO shipped 23.1 million smartphones, enough to capture a 7.4% market share, although volumes were down 6.0% from 1Q18.