Worldwide smartphone shipments up 1.0% Year over Year in 3Q

IDC reports that vendors shipped a total of 362.9 million smartphones worldwide in 3Q 2016. Even though IDC's totals for Samsung exclude Galaxy Note 7 shipments for both recalled and unsold devices in 3Q16, volumes were up 1.0% compared to 3Q15 when vendors shipped 359.3 million units. Sequentially, shipments grew 5.3% from 344.7 million in the second quarter of 2016.

The top five vendors remain unchanged from last quarter despite double- and triple-digit growth from the leading Chinese vendors Huawei, Oppo and Vivo (BBK). While Samsung and Apple continue to challenge each other at the top, especially Oppo and Vivo have delivered value-packed devices that offer consumers top-shelf features at a fraction of the cost compared to the market leaders.

Phones like the Oppo R9 and the Vivo X7 have become serious competitors for Huawei and other players like Xiaomi in China. Additionally Oppo is also witnessing mild success in Western Europe thanks to new athletic sponsorships across various countries. Whether or not these brands can make an impact in the U.S. market remains to be seen, but success will be crucial if aspirations of growth are a top priority.

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