Huawei outsells Apple as smartphone market declines

This article is more than 12 months old

May 02, 2019 06:00 am

SAN FRANCISCO : China-based Huawei outsold Apple's iPhones in the first quarter of this year, seizing the California company's second place spot in a tightening smartphone market dominated by Samsung, a tracker said Tuesday.

A total of 310.8 million smartphones were shipped globally during the first three months of this year in a 6.6 per cent decline from the same period in 2018, according to preliminary data from the Chinese-owned International Data Corporation (IDC).

It was the sixth consecutive quarter of decline for global smartphone shipments, the market tracker added.

IDC saw the results as a sign that 2019 will be another down year overall for smartphone shipments, apart from strong growth by Huawei.

"It is becoming increasingly clear that Huawei is laser focused on growing its stature in the world of mobile devices, with smartphones being its lead horse," said IDC mobile device programme director Ryan Reith.

"The overall smartphone market continues to be challenged in almost all areas, yet Huawei was able to grow shipments by 50 per cent."