Global smartphone sales rise, Samsung still number one

Gartner has released a report for worldwide sales of smartphones for the first quarter of 2018. There was a small amount of growth in regard to year-on-year sales: An estimated 383.5 million smartphones were sold in 1Q18, up from 378.5 million in 1Q17. According to the report, budget smartphones helped stimulate the market due to technical improvements now being found in cheaper devices.

Samsung was listed as the top vendor with 78.5 million sales and 20.5% of the market share. However, the South Korean manufacturer has witnessed a decline from 1Q17, when the company had 20.8% of the market share. Meanwhile, firms like Apple, Huawei, and Xiaomi have all enjoyed market share growth, with Xiaomi more than doubling its market share from 3.4% to 7.4%.

With flagship products like the Samsung Galaxy S9 and the Apple iPhone X, the top two renowned manufacturers have managed to maintain their considerable influence in the smartphone market. However, it seems to be Chinese companies like Huawei and Xiaomi that are currently shaking the market up. Huawei went from selling 34.1 million smartphones in 1Q17 to shifting over 40 million units a year later, and it is likely recent releases such as the Honor 10 and Huawei P20 will help increase sales even further.

Xiaomi’s estimated results are especially impressive. The Beijing-based electronics company sold around 12.7 million smartphones in the first quarter of 2017. That figure has risen to over 28 million units sold for the same period in 2018. Gartner attributes this success to “Xiaomi’s refreshed portfolio of smartphones and aggressive pricing strategy.” The very good Mi Mix 2S device can be seen as an example of this particular strategy.

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