The global smartphone market has finally gone ex-growth as China’s slowdown continues. In turn, the market is starting to polarise – with Apple pushing further up-market whilst Chinese brands such as Xiaomi focus on volume. Samsung’s middle market positioning looks increasingly under threat: The chart shows Q1 sales for Samsung, Apple, the 3 top Chinese […]
Chemicals and the Economy
Global smartphone sales slide 9% in Q4, as China tumbles 16%
Global smartphone sales have seen major growth until recently as consumers fell in love with going mobile, as the chart shows: In the critical Q4 period they jumped from 290m in 2013 to 380m in 2014, 405m in 2015 and 439m in 2016 But they then fell 9% in Q4 last year, according to Strategy […]
Top 3 Chinese smartphone brands capture global lead
China’s Top 3 manufacturers – Huawei, OPPO and Vivo – captured top position in global smartphone sales for the first time in Q1. As the chart shows: □ They took 22.9% of the market compared to 22.7% for Samsung and 14.4% for Apple □ In terms of individual smartphone sales, OPPO’s R9s smartphone reached the […]
Smartphone profits under threat as market goes ex-growth
The outlook is becoming clearer for the global smartphone market, and it confirms my judgement in November, when reviewing Q3 sales: “It seems likely that a focus on price and affordability will come to dominate. In turn, pricing pressures on suppliers will intensify. The key challenge facing the market is that it has gone ex-growth.” […]
Smartphone markets see calm before the storm as volume stagnates
The global smartphone market reached a fork in the road in Q3, and that was before Samsung’s disaster with the enforced recall of the Galaxy 7 model. What happens next is not yet clear, but it is likely that a focus on price and affordability will come to dominate. In turn, pricing pressures on suppliers […]
Smartphone sales go ex-growth as lifecycle turns down
Its been a great run for the smartphone industry, but the party is now coming to an end. As the chart shows, global sales in H1 fell 1% versus 2016, based on Strategy Analytics data: Samsung and Apple have both seen a major decline in their market share since 2014 Samsung have fallen […]
Smartphones head for price war as China sales fall 4% in Q4
We all now carry around a mini-computer in our pockets – one with more power than those which controlled Apollo 11 when Neil Amstrong first walked on the moon in 1969. In certain parts of the world, there are now more smartphones than toilets, according to Time magazine. This is raising the spectre of market […]
Price war hits smartphone market as China’s growth goes negative
The smartphone market has been one of the ‘jewels in the crown” of the consumer electronics market. Yet today, it is rushing headlong into the world of the New Normal. We can all learn a lot about the outlook for the global economy from watching its development. Until recently, the history was of astonishing growth, […]