Huawei Has 50 Percent Smartphone Growth in Q2 in Expansion Beyond Slowing China Market

Roughly 338 million smartphones shipped worldwide in Q2, with year-over-year sales growth of 16 percent, said Juniper Research. The gap between winners and losers widened, said Juniper. The launch of the P8 smartphone propelled Huawei to 50 percent growth over Q2 2015, while Xiaomi had roughly 33 percent growth during the period. Huawei is making an effort to expand beyond Asia, but Xiaomi, focusing on domestic sales, is “vulnerable to the slowing of the Chinese market,” it said. Samsung shipments continued to decline as the company reported a more profitable Q2 product mix, but the S6 and S6 Edge launch, expected to ship between 60 and 70 million by the end of 2015, was hurt by component delays, it said. Samsung will cut prices to boost sales ahead of a new high-end model expected to launch in Q3, Juniper said (see report, this issue). Apple’s 47.5 million unit sales (see 1507220052) were driven by 112 percent growth in China in Q2, while LG’s 14.1 million shipments declined by just under 3 percent from Q2 2014. Microsoft's 8.4 million shipments were a 12 percent improvement over Q2 2014, and BlackBerry’s shipments hovered around the 1 million mark, it said.