Smartphone shipments

Despite the recent controversial recall of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7, the mobile phone company continued with its dominance of the smartphone market worldwide, with a 20 percent share of the market during the third quarter of 2016.

According to initial results from the International Data Corporation (IDC)Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped a total of 362.9 million smartphones worldwide during the July-September 2016 period. Of the total volume, Samsung accounted for 72.5 million units for a market share of 20 percent.

Compared to the same period last year, Samsung’s sales however were lower by 13.5 percent while its market share slightly went down from 23.3 percent.

IDC says its totals for Samsung exclude Galaxy Note 7 shipments for both recalled and unsold devices in the third quarter of 2016.

Apple had the second largest shipment with 45.5 million units for a 12.5 percent market share. And just like Samsung, Apple’s market share during the third quarter of 2016 was lower compared to last year’s 13.4 percent while its shipments declined 5.3 percent as against the same period last year.

Leading Chinese vendors Huawei, OPPO, and Vivo are gaining headway. Huawei’s smartphones had a 9.3 percent market share totaling 33.6 million units shipped during the third quarter of 2016, but sales during the July-Sept. 2016 period were higher by 23 percent and its market share went up from 7.6 percent. Meanwhile, OPPO reported 25.3 million units sold worldwide for a 121.6 percent increase. OPPO’s market share went up from 3.2 percent to seven percent.

Vivo’s shipments also went up to 21.2 million units during the third quarter from 10.5 million in the same period last year for a 102.5 percent increase. Its market share also increased to 5.8 percent from 2.9 percent.

Overall, smartphone volumes were up one percent compared to the third quarter of last year when vendors shipped 359.3 million units. Also, compared to the second quarter of this year, total shipments grew 5.3 percent from 344.7 million. 

According to IDC associate research director for mobile devices Melissa Chau, Samsung’s market dominance in the third quarter was unchallenged in the short term even with this high-profile Galaxy Note 7 recall, but the longer-term impact on the Samsung brand remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, research manager for mobile phones Anthony Scarsella noted that with Samsung’s Note 7 finally laid to rest, both Samsung and other vendors will need to invest both time and money into properly testing devices to avoid a future incident of this proportion.

He said the recall of the Note 7 represents an industry-wide wake-up call that would undoubtedly lead to more vigorous testing and certification process moving forward.

IDC pointed out that the top five vendors remain relatively unchanged from last quarter despite double- and triple-digit growth from the leading Chinese vendors. It said phones like the OPPO R9 and the Vivo X7 have become serious competitors in China and are also witnessing mild success in Western Europe thanks to new athletic sponsorships across various countries.

Whether or not these brands can make an impact in the US market remains to be seen, but success would be crucial if aspirations of growth are a top priority, it added.

But what’s the situation in the Philippines?

Last June, IDC reported the Philippines has become the fastest growing smartphone market in the ASEAN region as it noted the growing smartphone adoption among Filipinos and stronger support from telco operators which drove the Philippines smartphone market to a high 20 percent year-over-year growth.

IDC Philippines market analyst for mobile devices Jerome Dominguez said while many of the more mature smartphone markets of the world are displaying signs of saturation, the Philippines smartphone market continues to enjoy robust growth owing to a relatively low smartphone penetration rate (30 percent in 2015), active local brand presence, and healthy consumer spending.

IDC said local vendors continue to dominate the Philippines smartphone market as they flood it with the most affordable smartphone option. Smartphones priced below P3,500 still make up the majority of smartphones shipped to the Philippines and MyPhone’s successful budget my28S model catapulted its lead in the smartphone market in the first quarter of 2016.

And MyPhone does not seem to be sitting on its laurels as it launched last October 26 its new digital platforms to become a multimedia company via a well-attended event at the Green Sun. And during the event entitled “Transcendence,” MyPhone CEO and founder David Lim talked about the nine-year journey of the first and only Filipino mobile phone brand.

In his Facebook post, David said that what many didn’t see was that they weren’t selling phones but dignity – the dignity of owning a brand new phone and not segunda mano (second hand) or nakaw (stolen) phones. He told the audience: “People thought I was crazy for starting and building a Filipino mobile phone brand. We’ve sold six million phones to date. I am not selling phones. I am giving dignity to the common Filipino.”

IDC expects smartphone shipments to the Philippines to grow by 25 percent this year and that smartphones in the 5 to 5.5 inch screen-size band will continue to dominate this year.

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