In Q4 2017, 403.5 million smartphones hit the market. Although Apple has caught up with Samsung in recent months, Koreans have brought more devices to the market throughout the year.
Apple recorded a slight decrease in sales compared to the last quarter of 2016, but this did not prevent it from winning the title of market leader. This was made possible mainly by new devices - the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X. Although the demand for the new iPhone X was not as strong as expected, Apple smartphones sold well. For the whole of 2017, Apple took the second place with 215.8 million units shipped to the market, which is 0.2% more than in 2016.
Samsung remained the leader in the global smartphone market in 2017 with 317.3 million smartphones sold (up 1.9% year-on-year). In Q4, the Korean giant provided 74.1 million smartphones, down 4.4% from 2016. The company is currently preparing the premiere of the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9 +, which could help bring the Korean company back to the top spot.
Huawei continues to hold its third place on the podium despite strong competition from other Chinese brands. Quarterly sales of 41.0 million units, a decrease of 9.7% compared to the situation in the 4th quarter of 2016. For the entire 2017, Huawei sold 153.1 million smartphones, up 9.9% from a year earlier.
Xiaomi is the only manufacturer in the IDC report that is growing at giant strides. The company continues to focus on development outside of China, with the largest markets for its products being India and Russia. The brand continued to grow its retail presence, including with multi-format retail stores as well as launching new Mi Stores.
Oppo dropped to 5th position with 27.4 million smartphones in 4Q2017. At the same time, the company maintained a 12% growth in sales, shipping 111.8 million smartphones to the global market. Also, the Oppo brand has expanded beyond China, capturing footholds in other Asian countries such as India, Indonesia and Vietnam.
Smartphone sales statistics for the 4th quarter of 2017
| Manufacturer | Sales in 4Q2017 (million units) | Market share in 4Q2017 | Sales in 4Q2016 (million units) | Market share in 4Q2016 | Change from year to year |
| Apple | 77,3 | 19,2% | 78,3 | 18,2% | -1,3% |
| Samsung | 74,1 | 18,4% | 77,5 | 18,0% | -4,4% |
| Huawei | 41,0 | 10,2% | 45,4 | 10,5% | -9,7% |
| Xiaomi | 28,1 | 7,0% | 14,3 | 3,3% | 96,9% |
| Oppo | 27,4 | 6,8% | 31,6 | 7,3% | -17,6% |
| Other | 151,3 | 38,6% | 183,7 | 42,7% | -17,6% |
| Sum | 403,5 | 100% | 430,7 | 100% | -6,3% |
Smartphone sales statistics in the world for 2017
| Manufacturer | Sales in 2017 (million units) | Market share in 2017 | Sales in 2016 (million units) | Market share in 2016 | Change from year to year |
| Samsung | 317,3 | 21,6% | 311,4 | 21,1% | 1,9% |
| Apple | 215,8 | 14,7% | 215,4 | 14,6% | 0,2% |
| Huawei | 153,1 | 10,4% | 139,3 | 9,5% | 9,9% |
| Oppo | 111,8 | 7,6% | 99,8 | 6,8% | 12,0% |
| Xiaomi | 92,4 | 6,3% | 53,0 | 3,6% | 74,5% |
| Other | 577,7 | 39,5% | 654,5 | 44,4% | -11,7% |
| Sum | 1472,4 | 100% | 1473,4 | 100% | -0,1% |
Hello dear friends, today we will talk about how to choose a smartphone in 2018 and what characteristics you should pay attention to. Looking at the market mobile phones in 2017, approximately 97% of it consists of smartphones and their number is growing every year. If you do not want to read the information in full, then you can watch the thematic video that is below the article. For those who want to understand in detail the choice of the best smartphone, below we will talk about it in great detail.
For what purpose?
Probably, this is where you should start, some are inclined to believe that you can purchase a regular push-button telephone and enjoy life. Yes, of course, for some residents of our country, such a phone will be enough. The phone allows you to make calls, listen to music. The entire minimum of functions is presented in it in full, but a good smartphone, in addition to this, performs more challenging tasks... He can become a real assistant in a variety of matters: how to choose a place to relax for the evening, find out reviews of a particular institution, find a way to an unfamiliar place using a navigator, while away the time with logical or entertaining games, take high-quality photos in any weather, and much more.
Many people simply make the choice of a smartphone on the basis of price-quality ratio and do not bother with the rest. Of course, this is the correct and competent approach, you do not need to overpay for additional options if you will not use them anyway. There are many categories of citizens, and each has its own specific type of smartphone. For someone best smartphone- this is the one that allows you to run all existing toys, for some it is just a work assistant, allowing you to exchange information with other people by mail or edit office files, well, or just raising self-esteem or maintaining your lifestyle.
Therefore, when buying, you must definitely pay attention to this, so as not to overpay for something that you do not need at all!
Well, we have already figured out the simplest, now there will be a maximum of technical nuances, because every year smartphones are becoming similar in characteristics to laptops and already an 8-core processor in the phone will surprise no one, as well as a 6-inch display, but we'll talk about that in more detail.
From the very beginning, a very difficult question becomes which diagonal to choose? In 2018, fashion dictates the rules and now it is very difficult to meet a smartphone with a 4-inch screen, although this is the figure with which Apple started. Well, today the average display size is about 5-5.5 inches, which is enough for all modern needs. Only those people who use the phone one hundred percent can experience all the delights huge screen at 5.7-6 inches.
Do not forget about ergonomics, because a smartphone should not only be multifunctional, it should still fit comfortably in the hand!
A very important indicator - screen resolution... It can be very diverse. Of course, it is best to buy a model that has a high definition display, i.e. Full HD 1920 * 1080 pixels, or at least HD 1280 * 720, if you want to buy a smartphone over 5 inches, although of course there is already 4K resolution, it's simply unrealistic for an ordinary person to see the difference from Full HD!
Also, do not forget about the type of display (matrix). The quality of the picture, the presence of glare, contrast and viewing angle directly depend on this. A high-quality display allows you to view everything that is presented on the screen from any angle and always with a beautiful and rich color scheme. Currently there are 3 types of matrix used:
- Super Amoled is the most widespread matrix of Samsung smartphones, which is famous for its black color and brightness.
- IPS - the most popular matrix in the world - over 70%.
- Retina - installs only on Apple phones, and this technology was developed by Samsung together with LG and today it is best matrix in the world.
Currently, smartphones are being supplied to the market, which can have three types of operating systems, namely: IOS, Windows, Android. There are, of course, others, but they have become less widespread and therefore we will not dwell on them. 
Android
Currently, more and more manufacturers are abandoning their own operating systems, giving preference to it. This is due to the fact that a huge number of free applications have been written for Android, plus it is easy to use, and also allows you to optimize the interface for yourself and your smartphone will be unique.
IOS is an operating system designed specifically for Apple smartphones, it is unique in its simplicity and optimization for all applications. Compared to competitors, with lower characteristics, this OS works better and faster, plus there are no viruses for it.
Of course, this OS ranks third in the world in terms of the number of users, since it appeared later than all and the smartphones themselves with this OS are much smaller than with the same Android. And all due to the fact that it still needs to be brought to mind and do many different applications, but the potential is very large.
Since two processors with a clock frequency of 2 GHz seem to be the same, in reality one will be faster than the other, since the clock frequency is not always a guarantee of success, my advice is to build on such indicators if you plan to use your smartphone for the whole. Therefore, it is better to compare the processors with a special program with the Antutu benchmark, or look at the performance graphs.
The next important factor is the number of cores, here, in principle, everything is simple the more, the better, but there are some nuances:
A processor with 4, 8 and 10 cores consumes a large amount of energy, because of this it quickly discharges, although many manufacturers make a tricky move and change the clock frequency downward, as well as turn off some cores when it is permissible. And of course they turn them on at full capacity as soon as a powerful application is launched.
Thus, they killed two birds with one stone, but my personal advice, if you are not a gamer, then an 8-core mid-range processor is enough for you! And if you need just such smartphones, then follow the link Here are the 10 best smartphones in terms of price-quality ratio.
Best processors in 2018
- Samsung (Exynos 9810, 8895 and 7885)
- Qualcomm Snapdragon (435, 625, 630, 660, 835, 845)
- MTK (Helio x20, x30, P25, P30)
Video accelerator
Video accelerator or graphics processor Is an auxiliary microprocessor for games that only deals with graphics.
Memory
Memory is a very important parameter, but it is quite simple to deal with it, you just need to know that there are two memories:
- For data storage (main memory of the smartphone)
- To place command data, for the processor to perform the necessary tasks (RAM or random access memory).
RAM
The more random access memory, the faster and more you can run applications and games at the same time. The maximum amount of RAM today is 8 GB, but for the normal operation of a smartphone for every day, 3-4 GB is enough, but you should not consider less, since the operating system itself takes memory and you will have very little to use and you will have to constantly close applications to open the next.
Main memory
In some expensive smartphones, there is only one memory that the manufacturer offers from 16 to 256 GB and it is impossible to change its figure. But there is also powerful smartphones with an additional connector for flash drives (popularly called microSD flash drives) and with it you can increase the memory up to 2 TB, just so that there is no slowdown in games or video recording with high resolution. But there is also a nuance here:
In most cases, downloadable programs are installed only on the main memory of the smartphone and it is not always possible to transfer them to a USB flash drive. For example, the well-known Navitel navigators with maps of Russia take about 1.5 GB, and in many budget smartphones the main memory is only 8 GB, plus of which the OS itself takes about 2-3 GB and that you have about 5 GB for downloading games and applications, which is extremely small!
Camera
The camera has become one of the most important parameters in choosing a smartphone, not so long ago, but has already taken a leading position. And all because people increasingly began to use the camera with or without reason, as the quality of the pictures is getting better and better every year.
A pixel is a small dot that makes up an image, and for example 6 Megapixels is 6,000,000 pixels, and the resolution is 3000 × 2000, which is enough for a high-quality picture, since a printed 10 * 15 photo has a preferred resolution of 1712 × 1200 (2 Mp), draw your own conclusions.
Therefore, it is advisable to take a selfie camera from 8 megapixels. She will allow you to do not only good photos but also shoot video for streaming. Some modern models have the highest photo quality of 20 megapixels and more, and the record is still 41 megapixels from Nokia 1020. Of course, such a camera is very cool, but in order to make the camera super cool, megapixels alone are not enough, they come to the rescue: optical stabilization, automatic focus, camera sensor, ISO - light sensitivity and the best camera of 2018 is only 12 megapixels from the Samsung S9.
- Autofocus - makes your shots clear, helping the camera to focus and find the right settings for a particular shot.
- ISO is an equally important parameter, the wider its range of work, the better it will take pictures in different conditions, whether it's twilight or very bright lighting, the pictures will always be great!
- Optical stabilization helps to make the picture clearer when moving, improving at times, especially video recording.
- The quality of the optics and its size are purely individual and can rarely boast, but there are exceptions, as we have already said Nokia 1020, this smartphone is included in our rating of the best camera phones.
- Well, and the last is a flash, without it anywhere, in almost all smartphones it is LED, there are of course double and xenon.
Well, with video recording, everything is simple, it is desirable that there is a recording in FullHD resolution and have optical stabilization so that the picture does not shake, well, the presence of a flash again, so if your phone has all of the above parameters, then the recording will be at its best ...
Battery
The battery has a very important role in the process of its life. In fact, everything is quite simple - the more powerful the device, the more energy it consumes. Battery capacity is measured in amperes. This parameter should be as large as possible, especially if it comes about a gaming smartphone. The maximum battery size today is 10000 mAh. Here, in principle, everything is simple, the more, the better, my advice to you when choosing a smartphone for price and quality, try to buy one with a battery of 3000 mAh, but even here a catch awaits us:
Many manufacturers write on the packaging beautiful numbers, but it is not always worth trusting this information, especially if you are choosing a Chinese smartphone!
Appearance
Not the least role is played by appearance gadget. Of course, you can always change it with a variety of accessories: covers and films with stickers. The phone itself should ideally fit the person in order to fully emphasize his style and, of course, fit comfortably in the hand. Here, as they say, there are no comrades for taste and color! Therefore, many manufacturers make a wide range of colors.
Which company is better to choose a smartphone
According to statistics, the phone market is growing exponentially. This forces marketers around the world and representatives of large ones to regularly track sales figures. Phone statistics allow you to see supply and demand, highlight the most popular gadget models and assess the dynamics of sales growth in the regions.
For example, the United States and the United Kingdom are leaders in smartphone use. In terms of popularity, Iphone tops the ratings of America and Europe. In 2017, the growth of smartphone users reached 4.77 billion people. China accounts for 1.4 billion people. India's cell phone statistics have 1 billion users.
Leaders of sells
Samsung and Apple are the leading suppliers of smartphones, which account for about 18% of the total. New phones come out with an enviable frequency, which is good news for sellers.
Phone usage statistics:
- 94% of adults (over 17) have a mobile device;
- 56% of them are smartphone owners;
- 29% of users say they can't live without a phone;
- 9% have used a mobile device at least once to participate in charity.
The cell phone is recognized as the world's fastest-growing innovation. Mobile devices are seen as the primary key to socialization.
In 2017, 74% of users made purchases through Phone purchase statistics also show high rates. 56% of mobile devices were purchased through cell phones. What criteria do buyers use to evaluate mobile devices:
- by manufacturer;
- by performance;
- by quality;
- by sales.
The statistics of the best phones are updated quarterly so that the user has the opportunity to choose the latest and high-quality products in the industry. mobile communications... As the phone statistics show, at the end of 2016, the following became the flagships:
- ASUS ZenFone 3 Zoom ZE553KL 64Gb is the mobile device with the most powerful battery. The average in Russia is 28,000 rubles.
- HTC U11 64Gb - presents itself as the best smartphone in the world in terms of power in performance. The device has one of the best cameras from the flagship presented. In Russia, such a smartphone costs from 45,000 rubles.
- Lg g6 64GB is a novelty that has a number of additional functions, has a stylish design. However, it creates a feeling of copying another bestseller - the Samsung Galaxy S8. The starting price is 42,300 rubles.
World phone statistics show that this is far from the entire list. But in addition to flagships, smartphone manufacturers release budget versions of their products. Purchased phones statistics:
- Samsung Galaxy J1 Mini.
- LG K7 X210DS.
- Xiaomi Redmi 4.
- Samsung Galaxy J1 (2016).
- LG K5 X220DS.
- Lenovo Vibe K5.
- Samsung Galaxy J3 2016.
- ASUS ZenFone Go ZB452KG.
- Meizu M5.
- Meizu U10.
Mobile phone usage statistics in 2013 :
| Ranking number | The country | Number of phones sold | Population |
| 1 | China | 1 321 930 000 | 1 371 220 000 |
| 2 | India | 1 170 178 305 | 1 311 050 530 |
| 3 | USA | 327 577 529 | 317 874 628 |
| 4 | Brazil | 284 200 000 | 201 032 714 |
| 5 | Russia | 256 116 000 | 142 905 200 |
Phone statistics show that Apple and HTC are the most resilient. The components of mobile devices make it possible to believe that smartphones will last for many years. However, you need to use your gadgets with care.
Additional bonuses
One should also take into account the statistics of the market of accessories for phones. There are a huge number of them, for every taste and color. This includes covers (all shapes and sizes) with their bright pictures or a strict design, various laces, holders (for amateurs), bluetooth headsets (optimal for drivers and businessmen). And this is not all that designers could come up with to maintain the level of mobile device sales.
Smartphones for everyone
Telephones are very popular in Russia. The market is littered with gadgets of various properties. There are phones for a child (with a built-in function parental control) and phones for the elderly Chinese manufacturers produce cool phones made for toys or cars.
However, the real BOOM in the novelty world happened relatively recently when waterproof phones were released. Covering with expensive material mainly affected the flagships, but the demand did not diminish.
Phones in Ukraine are no less in demand than in Russia. Stores offer phone catalogs for all ages, financial capacity and consumer demand. The cost of mobile devices ranges from $ 100 and more. Latest phones have such a strong signal that they can easily maintain communication in deep metro tunnels.
applications to increase sales through mobile devices. The user can only buy the smartphone he likes and improve the quality of his own.
Top sellers of mobile phones and smartphones from 1992 to 2018 in the animation below.
Market size
2018
Apple and Samsung take 86% of smartphone profits
Chinese vendors are drawing attention to their devices with new features such as a monolithic display with a single cutout for the camera, a built-in fingerprint scanner under the screen, ultra-fast battery charging and implemented at the hardware level Artificial Intelligence... In addition, companies in 2018 actively developed sales-stimulating initiatives, for example, to the trade in program and cashback payments.
Apple and Samsung control 70% of refurbished smartphone sales
The global market for refurbished smartphones in 2018 amounted to almost 140 million units, an increase of 1% over the previous year. Such data were published on March 14, 2019 by analysts from Counterpoint Technology Market Research.
Manufacturers independently restore used phones, replacing the case, screen and battery by installing a new operating system and assigning a new serial number to the device. Such devices have an official manufacturer's warranty and are packed in a box with new headphones, charger and other accessories. Thus, the restored smartphones look like new.
The market for such products practically stopped growing globally in 2018 due to an 11 percent drop in new smartphone sales in key markets such as China and USA... However, this downturn was partially offset by an improvement in the aftermarket ecosystem: collection, sorting, repair and further sale of refurbished pipes in offline or online retail.
At the same time, some countries saw a surge in demand for refurbished smartphones. For example, in India they sold 14 million units at the end of 2018, which is 14% more than a year ago. And there is still great potential for further growth, given that 72% of devices in India do not end up in the secondary market, Kang said.
The market leaders for refurbished smartphones are Apple and Samsung, which accounted for 70% of sales of such products in 2018.
GfK: Global Smartphone Market Reaches $ 522 Billion In 2018
The continuing trend for premium models drove further growth in global sales in 2018 smartphones... In numbers, this is an increase of five percent ($ 522 billion). However, demand for smartphones in 2018 was down three percent from 2017, to 1.44 billion units sold globally. Smartphones have become a major part of total consumer spending in the global home appliance and electronics market in the past year. The market is expected to grow by 1% in 2019.
Q4 2018 results show a similar trend. About 375 million smartphones (down 7 percent) were sold globally year-on-year, with sales in monetary terms of $ 144 billion.
Lack of innovative solutions leads to longer replacement cycle
About twelve percent of smartphones sold in 2018 (nine percent in 2017) were worth more than $ 800. Intense competition continues in the mid-range $ 150-400 segment, accounting for 46 percent of smartphones sold in 2018 (44 percent in 2017).
In Q4 2018, the smartphone replacement cycle continues to accelerate, driven by a shortage of attractive innovative solutions, which also drove the average sales price down by two percent to $ 384. V Of Russia for the same period, the average price tag smartphone grew by 9 percent to $ 250 in 2018.
Technology for a better experience
Research by GfK Consumer Life shows that consumer attitudes towards property are changing. This is not only about the fact that people prefer to have fewer things. best quality at higher prices, but also about the fact that experience is more important than possession. More memory, larger display diagonal or large quantity megapixels in the camera - all this is no longer able to captivate consumers and stimulate demand.
Igor Richter, Telecommunications Expert at GfK, comments: “Our research shows that while newer smartphones have comparable features and performance to laptops, they still need to be converted into new experiences. High quality games with high system requirements- the main driver of industry sales personal computers, while the potential of using smartphones for such games remains undisclosed. Despite their relatively small display sizes compared to PCs, their powerful chipsets a high resolution and growing battery capacities make gaming smartphones the ideal portable solution for gamers. "
Major categories of wearable devices saw growth in 2018, with demand up 16 percent YoY and sales up 35 percent. The demand drivers were smart watches with a slot for SIM cards that accounted for the bulk of sales in the wearable category. SIM-enabled smartwatches accounted for 17 percent of sales in the wearable category (up from 8 percent in 2017).
Demand in Central and Eastern Europe and Developing Asia * only partially offset the decline in China
The Chinese market is the main consumer in the global smartphone market, and it is also the home market for global Chinese brands. 40 percent of Chinese brands' smartphones in 2018 were purchased outside Of China(31 percent in 2016). The decrease in demand in China in Q4 2018 (minus 19 percent yoy) by volume (27 percent of sales) had a significant impact on the global performance. Continued growth in demand in developing Asia * (plus 13 percent yoy) and Central and Eastern Europe (plus three percent yoy) only partially offset the slowdown in China in Q4 2018.
Market growth by 1.2% to $ 1.56 billion - Gartner
February 21, 2019 analytical company Gartner published some of the results of her research on the global market smartphones... In 2018, consumers around the world bought 1.56 billion of these devices, up 1.2% from a year earlier.
At the same time, in North America, annual sales of smartphones decreased by 6.8%, in developed countries of the Asia-Pacific region - by 3.4%, in China- by 3%.
| In mature markets, smartphone demand is heavily influenced by the attractiveness of the flagship models of the top three brands - Samsung , Apple and Huawei... And two of them recorded a decline in 2018, - said Anshul Gupta, senior director of research at Gartner. |
According to him, the demand for the most expensive and technical advanced devices continues to decline due to rising prices for them and the slow introduction of innovative functions. At the same time, sales of entry-level and mid-range phones are still growing due to the price factor.
In 2018, Samsung and Apple both recorded a drop in smartphone sales of 8% and 3%, respectively, while Huawei recorded 35% growth. Among the five largest smartphone manufacturers Xiaomi and Oppo also increased the implementation of these gadgets.
According to Anshul Gupta, the demand for iPhone is declining for two main reasons: firstly, consumers are delaying buying new smartphones in anticipation of innovative products, and secondly, there are many smartphones similar to the iPhone, offered at lower prices, on the market.
As for Samsung, the South Korean corporation suffers to a greater extent from heightened competition from Chinese brands entering new segments of the smartphone market.
Top Selling Smartphones - Canalys
In February 2019, the analytical company Canalys presented a list of the best-selling in the world smartphones according to the results of the previous year. The first four places were taken by devices Apple, and the fifth position is occupied by the model Samsung Galaxy J2 Prime, introduced back in 2016.
- Apple iPhone 8 Plus
- Apple iPhone XR
- Samsung Galaxy J2 Prime
- Samsung Galaxy S9 +
- Xiaomi Redmi note 5
- Samsung Galaxy J2 Pro
- Samsung Galaxy J6
- Apple iPhone XS
- Vivo x21
- Xiaomi Redmi 6A
- Xiaomi Redmi 6
Global shipments of Apple iPhone 8 in 2018 exceeded 36 million units. The balance of power is different in different regions. For example, in the Asia-Pacific region, the first place in sales was taken by the Redmi 5A device, which sold over 15 million units there in 2018. V China there was no equal to the Oppo R15 model, which the Chinese purchased in an amount of more than 15 million units.
In Latin America, the Middle East and Africa the most popular smartphone is called Samsung Galaxy J2 Prime. In Central and Eastern Europe, the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) became the leader in sales, and in Western Europe, the iPhone 8.
Meanwhile, Business Insider reviewers ranked the top 20 smartphones in February 2019. The journalists gave the first place to the OnePlus 6T model and noted its attractive cost in comparison with competitors. The whole list is as follows:
- OnePlus 6T
- iPhone XR
- Google Pixel 3 / Pixel 3 XL
- Samsung Galaxy Note 9
- iPhone XS
- iPhone XS Max
- iPhone X
- Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus
- Samsung Galaxy S9
Market decline by 4.1% to 1.41 billion devices - IDC. Top 5 leaders
In 2018, shipments of smartphones globally reached 1.41 billion units, down 4.1% from 2017. The volume of the market has been falling for the second year in a row, whereas before it showed only growth, the data show IDC, released at the end of January 2019.
| The global smartphone market is in trouble, says Ryan Reith, an analyst at IDC. - Except for a handful of fast-growing regions like India, Indonesia, South Korea and Vietnam, in 2018 we did not see much positive activity. We see several reasons for this: the lengthening of the purchase period for new devices to replace old ones, the growing penetration of smartphones in many large markets, political and economic uncertainty, and increasing consumer disappointment over price increases. |
The study notes that, despite the challenges in the global market, the focus is on China as this country strongly influences the world performance. China accounts for about 30% of smartphone sales, and in 2018, handset shipments in this market decreased by 10%. The high level of stocks of unsold devices has become a problem in the Middle Kingdom, especially against the background of a decrease in consumer spending on the purchase of gadgets in general.
The largest smartphone manufacturers in the Chinese market are local brands: Huawei , Oppo , Vivo and Xiaomi... Their joint share in 2018 was 78% against 66% a year earlier.
At the global level, the share of the leading five has increased during this time from 63% to 69%. If we take the six largest vendors, they accounted for about 75% of smartphone sales in 2018. The alignment of forces in the market is presented in the table below.
Anthony Scarsella, an analyst at IDC, said that as consumers update their phones less frequently, manufacturers will have to re-balance the latest technology, attractive designs and affordable prices.
5 trends in the smartphone market in 2019
Early December 2018 edition ZDNet named the main technological trends that, according to journalists, will prevail in the market smartphones in 2019.
In 2019, the first devices with support for fifth generation (5G) networks should appear on the smartphone market. In December 2018, the companies presented their processors with built-in 5G modems. Qualcomm and MediaTek.
IDC: The first decline at the end of the year to 1.472 billion devices
At the beginning of February 2018, the analytical company IDC reported on the results in the world market smartphones in 2017. Shipments of devices sank by only 0.1% (manufacturers released 1.472 billion devices against 1.473 billion in 2016), but this decline in annual terms was the first for all the time IDC monitored the market.
Commenting on the results, IDC Senior Analyst Jitesh Ubrani noted that in 2017, flagship models of previous worship were preferred by many buyers over the new, ultra-expensive, upscale smartphones.
The specialist also drew attention to the desire of leading players to expand their product range in order to cover as many price segments as possible and increase the audience. In this situation, it was especially difficult for smaller manufacturers: in the category of low-cost devices, they experienced incredible competitive pressure from Chinese brands. Honor, Vivo, Xiaomi and Oppo while the premium smartphone segment was still dominated by Apple , Samsung and Huawei.
Describing the balance of power in the industry, analysts said that Samsung remains the leader of the global smartphone market, despite the fact that the South Korean giant lost to Apple in the final quarter of 2017. At the end of the year, Samsung released 317.3 million devices, increasing shipments by 1.9% compared to the 2016 figure of 311.4 million devices. Samsung's market share was estimated at 21.6%.
GfK: Growth by 9% in money
TrendForce: Growth by 6.5% to 1.46 billion units thanks to Chinese brands
In 2017, the volume of the world market smartphones reached 1.46 billion units, an increase of 6.5% over the previous year. The rise was largely driven by Chinese companies, TrendForce analysts report.
Telecommunication operators from the Middle Kingdom sold phones at discounted prices in exchange for connecting to their tariff plans... At the same time, Chinese smartphone manufacturers were actively involved in the sale of devices in emerging markets.
The leader of the global smartphone market remains Samsung Electronics, which in 2017 delivered record number pipes - 320 million units, which is 3% more than a year ago. Strong demand for J-series models helped offset the South Korean giant's slump in the PRC market.
Despite the success of the flagship device iPhone X shipments of "apple" phones in 2017 increased by only 3%. main reason such a weak growth lies in the technical barriers that hindered the improvement of the efficiency of production of innovative models, the study says.
Over the years, Chinese brands have achieved strong results thanks to strong sales of phones in the home market. However, the penetration of smartphones in the country has reached its limit values, so both large companies and young manufacturers have switched to overseas developing regions and cooperation with foreign operators, hoping to maintain their positions.
2016
The Chinese have outstripped Apple and Samsung in the smartphone market
On January 25, 2017, TrendForce analytical company published the results of the global market research smartphones... Experts said that Chinese brands have outstripped the leaders in terms of product output.
According to TrendForce estimates, worldwide shipments of smartphones reached 1.36 billion units in 2016, which is 4.7% more than a year earlier. Chinese manufacturers have produced 629 million devices in total, or 46% of the total. The two largest vendors are Samsung Electronics and Apple- prepared for sale 519 million smartphones. Analysts expect that in 2017, Chinese companies will occupy about 50% of the global smart phone market, complicating the position of competitors.
In 2016, Samsung slashed smartphone shipments by 3.3% and the South Korean giant's market share fell to 23%. The fall in the number of products released and the share in annual terms was the second in a row.
The main problems of Samsung were associated with the failed release of the flagship model Galaxy Note 7(was withdrawn from sale due to mass defects) and the activity of Chinese companies, which strengthened their positions in various market segments - from cheap to expensive premium devices.
In 2016, Apple experienced its first ever decline in smartphone sales. The regression was measured by 15.3% and was caused by the lack of innovative functions in Apple iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, analysts say. According to their forecasts, in 2017 the release of the iPhone will increase by several percent, and the fall of Samsung will continue.
The three largest manufacturers of smartphones in 2016 were closed by the Chinese Huawei... Next came her compatriots Oppo and Vivo, who shipped 180 million pipes for two in a year, which allowed them to get ahead of Lenovo and Xiaomi.
The study also says that one of the most anticipated events in early 2017 should be the return of the brand. Nokia to the smartphone market.
Most popular smartphones
In their report, the experts did not name the exact sales figures, but presented a graph showing the approximate demand. The best-selling smartphone is the iPhone 6s, the world deliveries of which in 2016 amounted to about 60 million units.
The second position is occupied by the apparatus Apple iPhone 7 with annual shipments of just over 50 million copies. The top 3 includes another device made by Apple - iPhone 7 Plus, the release of which exceeded 25 million units in 2016.
Apple has once again demonstrated that its new phones contain enough innovation and new features to help the company grow its sales and remain successful. At the same time, Apple can successfully sell older products for a long time, according to the study.
Five models hit the top ten best-selling smartphones in 2016 Samsung : Galaxy S7 edge, Galaxy J3 (2016), Galaxy J5, Galaxy S7 and Galaxy J7. At the same time, Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge sold 10 million more units in a year than their predecessors in a comparable period of time. This was facilitated by promotions, in which, in particular, the flagship devices were sold complete with a helmet. virtual reality Gear VR.
In the top ten most popular smartphones, there was only one device that was not released by Apple or Samsung. This is the Oppo A53. In 2016, the Chinese company increased shipments of smart phones by 109%, making it the fourth largest brand on the market. It should be noted that more than 80% of Oppo phones are sold in China.
Sales growth despite the decline of Samsung and Apple
February 15, 2017 analytical company Gartner has published a summary of the global market research smartphones... Its volume grew by 5% despite a drop in sales from leading companies Samsung Electroncis and Apple.
According to Gartner, almost 1.5 billion smartphones were sold worldwide in 2016 against 1.4 billion units a year earlier. Samsung remained in first place in terms of sales of these products, but the market share of the South Korean giant for the year decreased from 22.5% to 20.5%. Apple, which followed after, experienced a recession: the share of the corporation fell from 15.9% to 14.4%.
Gartner Research Director Anshul Gupta notes that sales Samsung smartphones started to decline in the third quarter of 2016 and continued to fall in the fourth due to the recall of the flagship model Galaxy Note 7 which turned out to be unsafe for users.
Apart from the disastrous Galaxy release Note 7, Samsung's business was negatively impacted by competition from Chinese manufacturers such as Oppo, BBK, Huawei , ZTE , Xiaomi and Lenovo, which are actively strengthening their positions in foreign markets. In October-December 2016, Huawei, Oppo and BBK accounted for about 21.3% of the global smartphone market, up 7.3 percentage points from a year ago.
According to Anshul Gupta, sales of premium models helped Huawei narrow the gap with Samsung to 36 million smartphones sold in October-December 2016 against more than 50 million handsets in the same period last year.
Oppo in 2016 ranked fourth in sales of smart phones globally and first in China, driven by the release of devices that have high productivity, fast charging and advanced front cameras.
6.6% growth thanks to Russia - GfK
On February 8, 2017, the analytical company GfK published the results of a study of the world market smartphones... The experts said that device sales rose 6.6% in part thanks to the Russian and Ukrainian markets. Implementation of smartphones in Of Russia increased by 10%.
According to GfK estimates, 1.4 billion smartphones were sold in the world in 2016 against 1.32 billion units a year earlier. At the same time, revenue rose to $ 428.9 billion from $ 398.1 billion.
The highest rise - 17 percent - showed China where 385.3 million smartphones were sold in 2016. Sales of this electronics in Central and Eastern Europe, to which Russia belongs, increased by 16%.
Annual indicators for Russian market analysts did not provide, but reported an increase in smartphone sales in Russia by 10% in October-December 2016 compared to the same period in 2015. This rise was facilitated by the stabilization of the ruble. The volume of the Ukrainian smartphone market has risen by 34% due to the improvement of the political situation, the study says.
According to GfK forecasts, in 2017 the sales of smartphones in Central and Eastern Europe will increase by 8% and will reach 84.4 million units.
In 2016, the decline in sales of smart phones in physical terms was recorded only in Western Europe (by 3%) and Latin America (by 1%). In terms of money, there was an upturn everywhere, but in North America the dynamics were close to zero.
Analysts note that in the fourth quarter of 2016, the North American market was able to return to growth thanks to the release of flagship products and promotions conducted by cellular operators v USA.
2015: The Chinese are one step away from leadership
On January 14, 2016 the analytical company TrendForce published the results of the research of the world market smartphones... Experts drew attention to the fact that Chinese manufacturers have almost caught up with the leaders Apple and Samsung by sales.
According to TrendForce, in 2015, global smartphone shipments grew by 10.3% year-on-year to 1.3 billion units. Brands from the Middle Kingdom combined produced 539 million pipes, or more than 40% of the total. A little more - 547 million devices - for two were prepared for sale by Samsung and Apple.
Experts expect that already in 2016, Chinese manufacturers will become the largest in terms of supply of smartphones, taking about 45% of the market. Thus, almost every second smartphone sold in the world will be a Chinese brand, said Avril Wu, an analyst at TrendForce.
In the top ten leading suppliers of smartphones at the end of 2015, seven places were taken by companies from the PRC. Above all is located Huawei, which shipped 108 million smartphones, which allowed the vendor to take the third position after Samsung and Apple.
In recent years, Huawei has invested heavily in R&D and has also developed its own mobile processors and amassed rich intellectual property related to chips. As a result, the company was able to strengthen its positions in foreign markets, avoid patent disputes with competitors and establish production of products that are not inferior in quality and functionality to devices of international brands, TrendForce says.
Samsung remained the leading manufacturer of smartphones in 2015, but shipments from the corporation for the first time in history decreased by 1.8% to 320 million units. The share of the South Korean giant fell from 28% to 25%.
Amid the failures of a competitor, Apple was able to get closer to it, taking possession of 17.5 percent market share in 2015. This corresponds to 227 million issued iPhone, which is 17.7% more than a year earlier.
2014
The Chinese eat off Samsung's share
On November 24, 2014, the analytical company Intelligence published a graph reflecting the dynamics of changes in the positions of leading manufacturers smartphones in the period from the second quarter of 2008 to April-June 2014. Visual statistics prepared based on data from research agencies IDC and Strategy Analytics.
Samsung's performance in the smartphone market is hampered by Chinese competitors
As you can see in the illustration, in four years Samsung has become the undisputed leader in the global smartphone market, but since the beginning of 2014, the South Korean company has not been doing well.
Samsung faces significant competitive pressure on two fronts: in the premium handset segment, the corporation is hard to resist Apple, and in the low-cost device sector, pressure from Chinese manufacturers such as Lenovo , Huawei , ZTE and Xiaomi.
The latter, in just a few years, was able to grow from a little-known smartphone developer to the third largest manufacturer in the world in terms of the volume of supplies of these products. According to IDC analysts, in the third quarter of 2014, Xiaomi prepared 17.3 million smart phones for sale, which is three times more than a year earlier. The company's market share increased from 2.1% to 5.3%. Xiaomi expects that by the end of 2014 active users its smartphones will be 70 million worldwide.
The activity of Chinese competitors undermines Samsung's business, which prompts the company to take drastic measures. According to The Wall Street Journal, the head in charge of smartphones and Samsung tablets, J.K. Shin will hand over to Consumer Electronics Leader B. K. Yoon.
Also in 2015, Samsung is going to reduce the range of smartphones by 25-30%, focusing more on mid-range and entry-level devices. IDC estimates the market share of this company at 23.8% as of the third quarter of 2014. A year earlier, this figure was 32.5%.
Samsung's main hope in 2014 was the flagship model Galaxy S5, but the demand for it turned out to be noticeably lower compared to its predecessor. In the three months since the Galaxy S5 hit stores in April, the device has sold 12 million units. Galaxy S4 sales for the same time period in 2013 were 16 million units.
EMarketer forecast up to 2018
According to forecasts of eMarketer researchers, the total number of smartphones in active use on the planet will for the first time exceed the 2 billion mark by 2016 and will amount to 2.16 billion against 1.9 billion in 2015 and 1.6 billion devices in 2014.
The total number of smartphone users, according to experts at Analysys Mason, will triple over the next five years and will exceed 3.4 billion by 2017. However, the growth rate of new smartphone users is gradually slowing down, from 39% in 2011 to 29% in 2012. In 2013, the decline in the influx of new smartphone users is expected to be up to 20%.
As for the volume of shipments of smartphones, they will grow from 700 million at the end of 2012 (which is 41.2% of the total volume of shipments of mobile phones), to 1.37 billion smartphones by the end of 2017 (then the volume of deliveries of smartphones will be 70 % of the total supply of mobile phones). We add to this that, according to the forecast, by 2017, the transition to a newer model smartphone will be the reason for buying a smartphone in three cases out of four, while now for this reason people are buying smartphones in less than half of the cases.
According to Gartner analysts, about 66% of mobile phones sold worldwide in the third quarter of 2014 were smartphones. However, if we consider the number of users (as they do in eMarketer), then the share of people with "smart" pipes does not exceed 40% as of the end of 2014. Smartphones will be larger than regular phones only in 2018.
In 2018, smartphones will account for more than half of the mobile phones used by people around the world.
2012: Forecast of development of mobile platforms until 2017
According to the results of July-September 2011 the number of deliveries of mobile gadgets to the PRC amounted to 24 million against the same indicator of 23 million in the United States. Agency analysts also noted that during the reporting period in China sales were up 58%, while in the US they were down 7%. The largest share of deliveries fell on the phones of companies Nokia Corporation(28.5%) and Samsung (17,6%).
Strategy Analytics spokesman Tom Kang noted that the increase in sales was fueled by a "wave" of low-cost platform-based models. Android manufactured by Chinese companies, as well as the growing availability of smartphones through retail channels.
Note that the center of world consumption is shifting more and more from the United States to China every year. The rapidly developing Chinese economy, even during the most difficult crises, stimulates the growth of incomes of the population, who are happy to buy more and more cars, equipment and other durable goods. A couple of years earlier, China took away the title of the largest car market from the United States, and this year the title of the largest market for personal computers (PCs).
Samsung - 48% of the world market smartphones in terms of supply volumes. 51.9 million mobile devices were sent to sales channels using this platform, which is 379% more compared to the same period in 2010, reports Canalys... For comparison, shipments of smartphones on all types of platforms for the same period increased by 73% to 107.7 million units.
Android is the most popular platform in 35 of the 56 countries surveyed by analysts. The platform demonstrates especially high performance in the countries of the Asia-Pacific region, such as South Korea and Taiwan, in which it accounts for 85% and 71% of all smartphones delivered to the market, respectively. Android is the main driving force behind the global smartphone market and, as a result, the mobile terminal market in general. In the IV quarter, it also ranked first, but with a smaller share.
| “They decided that they were the market leaders and the rest should follow them no matter what they did,” Chichvarkin says. He cites the example of another cell phone manufacturer - Samsung, which successfully manufactures smartphones and generally "sits on the tail of Apple." Nokia missed the smartphone market with touch screen, said Eldar Murtazin, a leading analyst at Mobile Research Group. |
However, Nokia shareholders were not very upset. On July 21, 2011, at the beginning of the NYSE trading session, depositary receipts of the Finnish company went up by 3%.
Nokia is doing well in Russia. According to Euroset, in the first half of the year 8.9 million Nokia smartphones were sold here (22% of world sales), and the iPhone - by an order of magnitude less, only 0.8 million.
| Company | Deliveries in 2010 | Market share in 2010 | Deliveries in 2009 | Market share in 2009 | YoY growth in deliveries |
| Nokia | 100,3 | 33,1 % | 67,7 | 39,0 % | 48,2 % |
| RIM | 48,8 | 16,1 % | 34,5 | 19,9 % | 41,4 % |
| Apple | 47,5 | 15,7 % | 25,1 | 14,5 % | 89,2 % |
| Samsung | 23,0 | 7,6 % | 5,5 | 3,2 % | 318,2 % |
| Htc | 21,5 | 7,1 % | 8,1 | 4,7 % | 165,4 % |
| Other | 61,5 | 20,3 % | 32,6 | 18,8 % | 88,7 % |
| Total | 302,6 | 100,0 % | 173,5 | 100,0 % | 74,4 % |
