Four of the top six are smartphone manufacturers are Chinese
Huawei has grown 33 per cent year on year (YoY) for smartphone shipments while Samsung shipments are down for the fourth quarter in a row.
According to Counterpoint Research Samsung still leads the way with 72.3 million shipments in the quarter up until September with Huawei shipping 52 million in second place.
Apple hold third despite launching its flagship XS during the quarter, shipping 46.9 million smartphones in Q3.
Huawei overtook Apple in the previous quarter this year for the first time ever and retained this position as a result of widespread success with the P20 Pro.
While Apple has neither gained or lost market share, Samsung’s YoY performance is down 13 per cent due. This was the fourth successive quarter Samsung’s shipment numbers declined.
Xiaomi, another Chinese manufacturer has also grown considerably with 25 per cent YoY growth and 35.7 million shipments in the past quarter. Xiaomi are launching with Three in the UK on November 8.
OPPO (33.9 million) and Vivo (30.5 million) also grew, four and seven per cent respectively to claim fifth and sixth positions.
Samsung still leads the overall market share with 19 per cent, followed by Huawei with 13 pc and Apple with 12. Both Xiaomi and OPPO have a further 9 per cent each in joint fourth.
LG shipments were down 25 per cent YoY as it shipped 10.4 million smartphones in the third quarter. Lenovo, which includes Motorola with 11.3 million had a similar slump as its shipments declined 26 per cent YoY.
Elsewhere HMD Global who revived the famed Nokia brand, shipped 4.8 million smartphones which equated to 77 per cent YoY growth.
Expanding out of China
Counterpoint Research associate director Tarun Pathak commented: “Despite the decline in its home market, Chinese brands OPPO, vivo and Xiaomi reached new highs in smartphone shipments in a quarter.
“Huawei was also able to maintain its 50 million plus smartphone shipments and retain its second position in 3Q 2018. This suggests that the companies are reducing their dependence on their home country. The brands will further expand outside China as they push into Asia Pacific countries and Europe.”