For a long time now, smartphone manufacturers from the Far East have steadily been growing and expanding their operations, with much of China and South East Asia dominate by names like Huawei, Oppo, Vivo and of course, Xiaomi. With Xiaomi themselves launching another big product shortly in the form of the Mi Note 2, it appears that these firms are not only battling it out with each other, but also with larger, Western names. New reports from TrendForce show that as these firms out fo China get larger and become more successful, the market share for big names like Apple and Samsung is starting to shrink, as consumers start to look elsewhere.
TrendForce, a well-known market research firm, has released new figures that shows Chinese manufacturers making a dent in the market share of Apple and Samsung, and presumably many other, smaller players. According to TrendForce, Huawei now has 9.1% of the market, Oppo had 6.1% while Vivo had 5.2% of the market during Q3 of 2016. As these are all Chinese names, it’s interesting to see this top three Chinese players gain 0.5% or so a piece, which might not sound like much, but as Apple and Samsung had 22.3% and 12.9% of the market, respectively, down from 24.3% and 15.0% the previous quarter, it’s clear that the Chinese names are having an effect on these larger players. Huawei, in particular, has been working hard to make a name for themselves in the Western world and are now the third largest manufacturer in the world behind Samsung and Apple.
The Galaxy Note 7 recall will no doubt have an effect on Samsung’s position in the market. Perhaps more so, however, is the fact that these Chinese names are now shipping more smartphones than ever, and with Huawei, Xiaomi and now LeEco looking to make a big name for themselves in the West, it’s likely that Apple and Samsung are right to look over their shoulder a little more carefully. LeEco recently announced a slew of Smart TVs and Android smartphones that would be heading to the United States this Fall, and perhaps more Chinese names will be following their lead as we enter 2017.