The iPhone turned in a “flat” third quarter while Chinese brands Huawei and Xiaomi droves sales in their home country to grow their shares of the global smartphone market.
The smartphone market grew by 1.4 percent to reach 389 units. Take Huawei and Xiaomi out of the equation, and global sales would have declined by 5.2 percent, according to the research firm Gartner, Inc.
Huawei is closing the gap on market leader Samsung, which saw a 14 percent decline. While smartphone sales are tapering off, demand for Huawei handsets shot up 43 percent, Gartner reported.
Apple, which rolled out three new iPhones in September, grew by only 0.7 percent.
“Apple’s iPhones are facing a saturated premium smartphone market, with slowing growth rates and increased competition in China,” Gartner research director Anshul Gupta said on the firm’s website. “Apple’s new flagship smartphones… will be key to defining Apple’s overall iPhone unit sales in 2018. Initial channel checks suggest that the XS Max is outselling the XS model, and we also see the XS Max as a critical addition for the Chinese market where Apple has been losing share.”
Photo: Gartner, Inc.
Huawei, thanks largely to lower-end Honor line of smartphones, is the No 1. brand in China and is top three among European markets, Gupta said. Huawei has spent heavily on branding and distribution in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.”
Apple announced in November it would no longer report unit sales numbers. While other brands have sold more units, Apple continues to be the most profitable because of the revenue generated by pricey iPhones.
In a recent earnings call, CEO Tim Cook was upbeat heading into the holiday season with a new lineup of iPhones and said sales have been better than expected.
