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

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

Samsung is still in a commanding position with around 22.8per 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 andHuawei.  Samsung registered no change inYear-Over-Year Growth and Apple a paltry 0.8 per cent.

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

"There is no question that 2016 was a pivotal year forthe 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 firstquarter results certainly support this argument. In addition to what shipped in1Q17, big flagship announcements from Huawei with the P10 devices and Samsungwith the Galaxy S8 devices show that innovation is still possible. And despiteany formal announcements from Apple it is safe to say the industry is highlyanticipating what comes from this year's iPhone announcements," Reithadded.

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, wecontinue to witness a shift in many companies' portfolios geared towardsaffordable devices with premium-type styling compared to flagship models.Companies have started to implement a single premium design language thatultimately blurs the lines between the high-end and the low-end, allowing theaverage consumer to jump on the brand without a hefty upfront investment,"said Anthony Scarsella, research manager with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly MobilePhone Tracker.

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

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

Oppo and Vivo have been pushing their products aggressivelyin the Indian market. According to IDC, Vivo has "stepped up with itsmarketing efforts in India and was as a sponsor of the Indian Premier League2017, helping to increase Vivo's brand presence in the market, while alsoincreasing the number of exclusive stores in India."