China Smartphone Shipments Drop 14% as Market Consolidates Around Top Vendors
China's smartphone shipments fall to 396 million units in 2018, hitting their lowest level since 2013. The market consolidates heavily as top five vendors capture 88 percent of total market share.
China's smartphone market experiences a significant downturn as 2018 shipments fall 14 percent to 396 million units, marking the lowest level since 2013. Consumers keep their devices for longer periods, a trend that economic slowdowns and weakened purchasing power heavily amplify. The fourth quarter of 2018 shows a 15 percent year-over-year drop, representing the seventh consecutive quarter of decline for the industry.
As overall shipments shrink, the market rapidly consolidates around the top five vendors, which collectively grow their market share from 73 percent in 2017 to 88 percent in 2018. Huawei and Vivo successfully buck the negative trend by growing 16 percent and 9 percent, respectively. Huawei achieves a record 27 percent market share with 105 million shipments, leveraging its dual-brand strategy with Honor to cover a broad range of price bands.
Apple suffers the toughest year among the top five vendors, experiencing a 13 percent decline in shipments while customers reject the high pricing of its newest iPhones. Oppo retains second place despite a slight two percent drop in shipments, while Xiaomi takes fourth place after a six percent decline caused by a disappointing second half. Analysts note that Huawei's technological innovations and strengthening brand position it well to challenge Samsung for global leadership in 2019.