Samsung, Apple retain top position in market share but Chinese brands are the real champions

Samsung and Apple surface as the top players in the smartphone industry yet again. According to a report by IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, around 347.4 million smartphones were shipped across the world and the shipments grew by 4.3 per cent.

Samsung is still in a commanding position with around 22.8 per cent of market share and Apple at the second place with 14.9 per cent. However, the growth was mainly derived from Chinese brands Oppo, Vivo and Huawei.  Samsung registered no change in Year-Over-Year Growth and Apple a paltry 0.8 per cent.

"The first quarter smartphone results further prove that the smartphone industry is not dead and that growth still exists," said Ryan Reith, program vice president with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Device Trackers.

"There is no question that 2016 was a pivotal year for the industry as growth dipped to low single digits for the first time. However, we believe the industry will show some rebound in 2017, and the strong first quarter results certainly support this argument. In addition to what shipped in 1Q17, big flagship announcements from Huawei with the P10 devices and Samsung with the Galaxy S8 devices show that innovation is still possible. And despite any formal announcements from Apple it is safe to say the industry is highly anticipating what comes from this year's iPhone announcements," Reith added.

Despite a visible growth in the premium smartphone segment, budget phones were the champions of overall growth in the industry. "Despite all the popularity and media hype around premium devices, we continue to witness a shift in many companies' portfolios geared towards affordable devices with premium-type styling compared to flagship models. Companies have started to implement a single premium design language that ultimately blurs the lines between the high-end and the low-end, allowing the average consumer to jump on the brand without a hefty upfront investment," said Anthony Scarsella, research manager with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.

Although Samsung and Apple have retained the top position, overall growth of 4.3 per cent in the smartphone industry can be attributed to the three Chinese brands that occupy the third, fourth and fifth positions.

India has been a deciding factor for the Chinese brands which registered double digit growth percentage in comparison to the same quarter last year. Huawei registered a growth percentage of 21.7 per cent, Oppo registered the highest among the three with 29.8 per cent and Vivo showed a year-over-year growth of 23.6 per cent.

Oppo and Vivo have been pushing their products aggressively in the Indian market. According to IDC, Vivo has "stepped up with its marketing efforts in India and was as a sponsor of the Indian Premier League 2017, helping to increase Vivo's brand presence in the market, while also increasing the number of exclusive stores in India."