In 2018, Smartphone Sales Stopped Growing for the First Time

collected by :John Smith

ShareIn 2018, smartphone sales numbers stopped growing, according to two data analysis companies, Strategy Analytics and Counterpoint Research. Strategy Analytics executive director Neil Mawston wrote in his guide to the latest figures that it's the "first time ever in history the global smartphone market has declined on a full year basis. Samsung and Apple sold fewer phones in 2018 than they did in 2017, according to Strategy Analytics figures. Samsung fell from 317.5 million in 2017 to 291.3 million in 2018, while Apple sold 206.3 million in 2018 compared to the 215.8 million it did the year before. Huawei apparently grew by 35 percent in 2018, selling 205.8 million phones, putting it right behind Apple.

IDC: Smartphone shipments declined 4.9% in Q4 2018, Apple regains second from Huawei

The smartphone market isn't looking too hot. Global shipments in 2018 dipped 4.1 percent, with a total of 1.4 billion units shipped for the full year. The country, which accounts for an estimated 30 percent of the world's smartphone consumption, reported a decline in shipment volume of 10 percent. "Globally the smartphone market is a mess right now," Ryan Reith, program vice president with IDC's Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers team, said. Xiaomi, not to be outdone, notched a 32.2 percent increase in shipments for 2018, with volume surpassing 100 million (92.7 million units to 122.6 million).

Analysis: After Surpassing Apple In 2018, Huawei Vies For Smartphone Supremacy In 2019

as declared in It's official, we've reached peak smartphone in 2017 as markets including the U.S., Europe, and China—the world's biggest market for smartphone sales—hit saturation. According to IHS Markit, the global smartphone market ended 2018 on a downturn, with shipments declining 2.4% from the previous year—from 1.44 billion units in 2017 down to 1.41 billion units in 2018. And Apple's decision to stop disclosing iPhone sales last November was another alarming indicator that the market was heading the wrong way. Atherton Research's TakeWith 290 million units in 2018, an 8% decline from 316 million units in 2017, it's the first time the South Korean technology giant shipped fewer than 300 million units per year since 2014. So, the lack of a 5G device should not impact too much iPhone sales in 2019 or even into the first part of 2020.