Smartphone sales decline for the first time since 2004.
Published2018.02.27 07:49.JPG)
As MWC 2018, the world's largest mobile exhibition, is being held, smartphone sales in the fourth quarter of 2017 were found to have decreased by 5.6%.
According to global IT consulting firm Gartner, global smartphone sales to end users in the fourth quarter of 2017 amounted to 408 million units, a 5.6% decrease from the same period last year, marking the first decline since 2004.
Anshul Gupta, research director at Gartner, explained, "The decline in smartphone sales in the fourth quarter of 2017 was due to a decline in replacement demand from feature phones and a shortage of high-quality, ultra-low-cost smartphones. Consumers are increasingly opting for high-quality feature phones and holding onto them longer, lengthening their smartphone replacement cycles. While demand for high-quality, 4G connectivity, and high-performance cameras persisted, the benefits of these devices fell short of expectations, leading to a slowdown in smartphone sales."
Samsung Maintains Top Smartphone Sales in Q4 2017
In the fourth quarter of 2017, Samsung's sales fell by 3.6%, while Apple's fell by 5%. Samsung took first place in overall smartphone sales, ahead of Apple by 0.3%. Samsung is expected to drive Q1 sales by unveiling the next S9 model during the MWC exhibition, while Apple's Q4 sales are expected to start in December due to the delayed launch of the iPhone X due to component and manufacturing shortages, which will lead to belated iPhone X sales.
Huawei records growth in new smartphones in Q4 2017
Huawei and Xiaomi were the only vendors to see sales growth and increased quarterly market share compared to the same period last year. In the fourth quarter of 2017, Huawei expanded its product line with the launch of new smartphones, including the Mate 10 Lite, Honor 6C Pro, and Enjoy 7S.
Xiaomi drove growth in emerging Asia-Pacific markets with its Mi and RedMi smartphone models, which helped it regain market share in China.
“Huawei’s future growth potential depends on its market share in emerging Asia-Pacific markets and the U.S.,” said Gupta, research director at Gartner. “India is Xiaomi’s largest market outside of China and will continue to show high growth going forward.”
In 2017, smartphone sales to end users increased by 2.7% year-on-year, reaching a total of 1.5 billion units. Huawei, which ranked third, is closely following Apple with a 4.2% sales difference in 2017 market share.
In the smartphone operating system (OS) market in 2017, Google Android maintained its lead with 86% of the total market, ending the year at 85.9%, up 1.1% from the previous year.
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