Global smartphone sales grew 2% in the second quarter of 2018.
Huawei's sales grew 38.6% in the second quarter of 2018.
Samsung Electronics smartphone sales drop 12.7%.
Gartner announced global smartphone sales for the second quarter of 2018.

According to Gartner, Huawei has surpassed Apple for the first time to become the world's second-largest smartphone vendor. Apple remained in third place. In the second quarter of 2018, smartphone sales to end users increased by 2%, reaching 374 million units.

“Huawei’s smartphone sales grew 38.6 percent in the second quarter of 2018,” said Anshul Gupta, research director at Gartner. “Huawei continues to bring innovative features to its smartphones and expand its smartphone portfolio to reach a wider range of consumers. Investments in distribution channels, brand building and the positioning of its Honor series helped drive sales growth. Huawei ships its Honor smartphones to more than 70 markets worldwide, and this has emerged as a key growth driver for Huawei.”

Samsung Electronics maintained its position as the world's leading smartphone company despite a 12.7% decline in smartphone sales in the second quarter of 2018. "Samsung Electronics faces challenges such as declining global smartphone demand and intensifying competition from Chinese manufacturers," said Anshul Gupta, a researcher. "Samsung Electronics' profitability has declined as demand for flagship smartphones has slowed. Samsung Electronics is hoping to regain growth with the Galaxy Note 9," he added.
Apple's Q2 2018 earnings growth was just 0.9%, similar to the previous year. "Apple's minimal upgrades to its current-generation flagship iPhones contributed to the slowdown in Q2 2018," said researcher Anshul Gupta. "Demand for the iPhone X began to decline much earlier than when other new products were launched."

He added, "As competition from Chinese brands intensifies and consumers' expectations for the value of their phones grow, Apple is under pressure to deliver higher value on its premium iPhone series to drive growth."

Xiaomi is focusing on expanding its product portfolio and introducing a unified retail model by integrating online and offline retailers. Through this, Xiaomi is accelerating its growth in the slowing global smartphone market, and ranked 4th in the global smartphone market in the second quarter of 2018.

In the smartphone operating system (OS) market, Google's Android achieved 88% market share in the second quarter of 2018, significantly outpacing Apple's iOS, which held 11.9%.
For more information, see the Gartner report, " Market Share Alert: Worldwide Mobile Phone Forecast, Q2 2018. "