Samsung is still dominating global smartphone shipments, according to a recent market survey conducted by Chinese firm Risingsun, with its research revealing that the South Korean original equipment manufacturer (OEM) accounted for 80 million of device shipments in the first quarter of this year. Much like Samsung maintained its leading position in the phone industry, Apple held on to its second place in Q1 2017, recording approximately 51 million shipments in the same period. The third most successful OEM in this timeframe was Huawei, with the Chinese tech giant shipping around 35 million devices in the three-month period ending March 31, 2017, thus also maintaining its position in the global smartphone race. Huawei was followed by OPPO, a BBK Electronics-owned consumer electronics manufacturer which recorded roughly 26 million device shipments in the first period of 2017, with its sister firm Vivo shipping around 19 million handsets in the same period.
Xiaomi and LG Electronics took the sixth place in Risingsun’s latest list, with both companies shipping around 15 million units in Q1. The survey puts Lenovo at number eight, revealing that the Beijing-based phone maker shipped approximately 12 million devices within the same timeframe. The top ten list is completed by ZTE and Gionee, with the two firms shipping nine and eight million units in Q1 2017, respectively. In overall, OEMs shipped 351 million devices in the first quarter of the year, thus recording a significant decrease compared to Q4 2016 when global device shipments reached 439 million handsets. That particular drop was still expected, with Q4 being traditionally the best period for selling consumer electronics due to holidays and numerous high-profile promotional initiatives including Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Compared to Q1 2016, Q1 2017 sales rose by 5.4 percentage points this year.
Even though Samsung and Apple show no signs of slowing down and will likely continue leading this market segment in at least the medium term, Risingsun’s study indicates that Chinese OEMs are gradually gaining traction, with China-based companies taking seven out of top ten spots on the list. It remains to be seen whether the global smartphone market goes under any significant changes later this year but an update on the situation should follow shortly.