Chinese smartphone market suffers biggest decline in Q1 2018, but Huawei is still on top

Chinese smartphone market fell by 21 per cent year-on-year, but both Huawei and Xiaomi continue to rise.

China smartphone market, China smartphone shipments report, Canalys, Huawei, Counterpoint, Xiaomi, Oppo, Honor, Vivo, Apple, Chinese smartphone makers

China’s smartphone market is on the decline, and it has been confirmed by two independent reports.

China’s smartphone market is on the decline, and it has been confirmed by two independent reports. The most significant numbers from the trends seen during Q1 2018 show that smartphones shipments in China fell by 21 per cent year-on-year, while the market suffered an 8 per cent decline.

The shipment decline was reported by Canalys, which said that only 91 million smartphone units had been shipped in China during Q1 2018. Among the brands to suffer, Oppo and Vivo both lost over 10 per cent, to register 15 million and 18 million device shipments respectively. Samsung, Gionee and Meizu also shrunk to less than half of their Q1 2017 numbers. Huawei and their sub-brand Honor beat the trend to register a 2 per cent growth, while Xiaomi saw a 37 per cent increase in smartphone shipments.

Also read: Samsung Galaxy S9 dominates India’s premium segment, Apple and Google decline in Q1

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Significantly, the Canalys numbers also suggest that the Chinese smartphone market is being dominated by four brands: Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi. With the Q1 2018 numbers, Xiaomi has become more popular in China than Apple. Canalys has attributed Xiaomi’s growth to the fact that their smartphones target the under-1000 yuan (Rs 10,478 approx.) price range.

Chinese smartphone market is being dominated by four brands: Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi

Similar statistics were also released by Counterpoint, which said that smartphone shipments had fallen in China before 100 million units for the first time in 5 years. These numbers also show Huawei’s market share at 21.6 per cent for the quarter, with Oppo and Vivo both registering over 15 per cent market contributions.

Counterpoint suggests, though, that Apple is still more dominant than Xiaomi in China. Their numbers show a 51 per cent growth for Xiaomi, while Apple also grew by 32 per cent. Analysts at Counterpoint suggest that Huawei maintained its top position due to its online sales, while Xiaomi registered the high growth courtesy the popularity of its Redmi Note series.

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