Smartphone sales: Samsung remained at the top in 2019

Like every year for almost 10 years now, the South Korean manufacturer Samsung is well ahead of its competitors on the podium of the world’s biggest smartphone sellers.

The latest report published by Strategy Analytics confirms that it was no different in 2019. As for the second step of the podium, it was the subject of a fierce battle between Apple and Huawei. But the Huawei, the Chinese manufacturer, finally won the silver medal.

Xiaomi seeing amazing growth

Although China’s Xiaomi still only accounted for 8.8% of the market share at the end of 2019, it is hard not to notice its ascent year after year. The manufacturer, driven by a firmly aggressive strategy (including subsidiaries, Xiaomi marketed nearly 10 new smartphones last year), has seen the number of its shipments rise from 119 million devices to almost 125 million in 2019. So what’s next for the Apple behemoth? Only if it continues to fall, and Xiaomi continues its efforts.

Moreover, and despite a recent entry into the European market, OPPO’s growth has come to a standstill. Victim of a slight drop in shipments (115 million devices against 117 million in 2018), its market share remains stable at 8.1%. Perhaps the manufacturer is paying the price for ruthless competition in the low-cost mid-range smartphone segment, in which it has become a specialist.

Almost 300 million smartphones shipped for Samsung

Samsung broke its record set one year earlier. By the end of 2019, the manufacturer had shipped (not sold strictly speaking) exactly 295 million smartphones worldwide. That’s a figure that gives Samsung a 20.9% market share. By comparison, Samsung shipped 291 million devices in 2018 and had a 20.3% market share.

Subtract almost 50 million units from this figure to arrive at the shipment figure attributed to Huawei. In 2019, the Chinese manufacturer was severely hit, at least in terms of image. Its sales are doing well (not bad for them). Huawei recorded no less than 240 million shipments last year – more than 40 million more than in 2018! Analyses that confirm the brand’s predictions.

Apple, which afforded itself to sell more smartphones than Samsung in the fourth quarter of 2019 (due to the release of its new models), remains the only manufacturer in the trio to see its figures melt away over the entire year. The company, which had shipped 206 million iPhones in 2018, dropped to 197 million units in 2019.