Q3 Global Smartphone Shipments Fell for Fourth Straight Quarter, Says IDC

That Q3 global smartphone shipments declined for the fourth straight quarter “raises questions about the market's future,” said IDC. Shipments fell 6 percent to 355.2 million units: “IDC maintains its view that the market will return to growth in 2019, but at this stage it is too early to tell what that growth will look like.” Market-share leader Samsung “had a challenging quarter” with shipments down 13.4 percent to 72.2 million units, said IDC Thursday. Samsung “continues to feel pressure from all directions,” especially from Huawei, “inching closer to the top” after a second straight quarter as No. 2, it said. Huawei had 14.6 percent share in Q3 to Samsung’s 20.3 percent. In Q3 a year earlier, Samsung was 22.1 percent vs. Huawei’s 10.4 percent. Strategy Analytics pegged the global smartphone decline at 8 percent in Q3 to 360 million handsets, saying the market is "effectively in a recession." Smartphone makers are "struggling to come to terms with heavily diminished carrier subsidies, longer replacement rates, inventory buildup in several regions, and a lack of exciting hardware design innovation,” it said. Meanwhile, Strategy Analytics pegged the global smartphone decline at 8 percent in Q3 to 360 million handsets, saying the market is "effectively in a recession." Smartphone makers are "struggling to come to terms with heavily diminished carrier subsidies, longer replacement rates, inventory buildup in several regions, and a lack of exciting hardware design innovation,” it said. SA estimates Samsung's Q3 share declined to 20.1 percent from 21.2 percent, while Huawei's increased to 14.4 percent from 9.9 percent: "Huawei has little presence in the valuable North America market, but its Android models are wildly popular in most of the rest of the world, particularly Asia and Europe.”