Huawei beats Apple to become the no 2 smartphone vendor globally: IDC

According to a new report by IDC, Chinese smartphone Huawei overtook Apple to become the no 2 smartphone vendor globally.

IDC said the company had year-over-year growth of 50.3 percent in 1Q19 with volumes of 59.1 million units and a 19.0 percent market share. Huawei is now within striking distance of Samsung at the top of the global market.

While Apple had a challenging first quarter as shipments dropped to 36.4 million units representing a staggering 30.2 percent decline from last year. The iPhone struggled to win over consumers 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.

IDC pointed out that Xiaomi also experienced a decline in 1Q19 with volumes of 25.0 million, which was down 10.2 percent 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.

However, Vivo returned to the top 5 of the smartphone market with volumes of 23.2 million and a market share of 7.5 percent, 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 percent over 1Q18.

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

"It is becoming increasingly clear that Huawei is laser-focused on growing its stature in the world of mobile devices, with smartphones being its lead horse," said Ryan Reith, program vice president with IDC's Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers.

Reith said, "The overall smartphone market continues to be challenged in almost all areas, yet Huawei was able to grow shipments by 50 percent, not only signifying a clear number two in terms of market share but also closing the gap on the market leader Samsung. This new ranking of Samsung, Huawei, and Apple is very likely what we'll see when 2019 is all said and done."