Counterpoint Research released earlier today the latest report on global smartphone shipments.

The research shows a 3% annual decline regarding total global shipments. Counterpoint Research suggests that “this is the first time that the global smartphone market has declined for three consecutive quarters.”

Chinese manufacturer Huawei’s global shipments for the period hit 52 million, up 33% year-over-year, making the company the second largest one on the global shipment units list. Xiaomi, which just completed a 100 million global shipments goal for 2018 on October 26, recorded 35.7 million global shipments for the period, up 25% year-over-year.

Oppo and Vivo both report quarterly international shipments over 30 million, making the two and Xiaomi the wining Chinese manufacturers with their own “highest ever shipments in a single quarter”.

Lenovo, a Chinese brand well-known for PC technology, saw a 26% decline in shipment units, and a 25% decline in shipment market share.

Industry leader Samsung remained on top of the list in terms of shipment units (72.3 million) and shipment market share (19%), though both units and share declined year-over-year. Apple’s performance remains flat.

Global smartphone shipments ranking and market share for 2018 quarter three. (Image Credit: Counterpoint Research)

Another highlight of the report is top Chinese smartphone manufacturers’ declining reliance on domestic markets.

Xiaomi’s shipment growth domestically dropped 16%, whereas global shipment growth increased 83%. Xiaomi ranked 4th with a 9% global market share for the period on the global list, but was 38.1% behind Oppo and Vivo which both acquired 21% in-China shipment share on the domestic list.

Major Chinese multinational smartphone manufacturers’ domestic and international growth compared. (Image credit: Counterpoint Research)

As Huawei, Apple, and Xiaomi all released new models recently, a report on the 4th quarter and the whole 2018 year will be worth looking forward to.

Runhua Zhao is a technology reporter based in Beijing. Connect with her via email: runhuazhao@technode.com

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