Smartphone Sales Decline; Samsung, Huawei Sell Most

May. 28, 2019

“Demand for premium smartphones remained lower than for basic smartphones, which affected brands such as Samsung and Apple that have significant stakes in high-end smartphones,” Anshul Gupta, Senior Research Director at Gartner, said in a statement.

“In addition, demand for utility smartphones declined as the rate of upgrading from feature phones to smartphones has slowed, given that 4G feature phones give users great advantages at a lower cost.”

Slowing innovation in flagship smartphones and rising prices continued to extend replacement cycles.

Sales of Huawei smartphones grew in all regions.

“Huawei did particularly well in two of its biggest regions, Europe and Greater China, where its smartphone sales grew by 69 per cent and 33 per cent, respectively,” Gupta noted.

“Samsung launched its flagship Galaxy S10 smartphone portfolio which received a good response. However, its impact was limited as Samsung only started shipping the S10 at the end of the first quarter,” said Gupta.

“Samsung also strengthened its mid-tier and entry-tier smartphone ranges with a refreshed ‘A’ series and ‘J’ series and the newly-introduced ‘M’ series, but aggressive competition from Chinese manufacturers limited their impact.”

“The price cut for iPhones across markets helped drive up demand but wasn’t enough to restore growth in the first quarter. Apple is facing longer replacement cycles as users struggle to see enough value benefits to justify replacing existing iPhones,” Gupta noted.