IHS Report: Global Smartphone Shipments in Q3, 2018

According to the IHS Markit smartphone pre-survey data, global smartphone shipments declined for two consecutive quarters in 2018. In the third quarter of this year, global smartphone shipments totaled 354.8 million units, down 3.3% year-on-year. Among them, Samsung continued to lead, and Huawei maintained its second position in shipments.

According to another report, IDC announced that in the third quarter of 2018, smartphone shipments showed that Huawei shipped more than Apple. After Huawei surpassed Apple for the first time in the second quarter of this year, it shipped 52 million units worldwide in the third quarter, up 33% year-on-year, occupying the second place in the world. According to IHS Markit smartphone monitoring data, three-quarters of smartphones shipped by Huawei are equipped with dual-cameras or triple-cameras, which is higher than Apple’s 43% and Samsung’s 13%.

Specifically, in the third quarter of this year, Samsung Electronics continued to lead with 70.9 million smartphone shipments. However, IHS Markit said that Samsung has completely lost in the Chinese market. In countries such as Italy, Greece, and India, Huawei and Xiaomi have become the leading brands.

Apple shipped 46.9 million units, up 0.5% year-on-year, but revenue increased 29% year-on-year. Despite the higher price, the new generation of products has attracted quite a few consumers to upgrade. IHS Markit said that Apple’s prosperous season is usually in the fourth quarter, and it is estimated that Apple is likely to return to the second place in the fourth quarter.

Xiaomi continued to maintain a double-digit growth in the third quarter of this year, with smartphone shipments reaching 32.4 million units. OPPO smartphone shipments were basically flat at 31.2 million units, and VIVO smartphone shipments were 28.9 million units, up 13.6% year-on-year.

IHS Markit integrated China’s TOP4 (Huawei, OPPO, VIVO, and Xiaomi) smartphone shipments, totaling 144.5 million units in the third quarter of this year, accounting for 41% of the total global smartphone shipments.