Huawei surpasses Apple in Q2 smartphone shipments
Huawei shipped 54.2 million smartphones in Q2 2018, IDC reports, giving the Chinese firm a record-high worldwide market share of 15.8 percent.
While Samsung maintains a comfortable lead in the worldwide smartphone market, Huawei's shipments surpassed Apple's, making Q2 2018 the first quarter in eight years that Apple hasn't been the No. 1 or No. 2 smartphone company in terms of market share.
Samsung shipped 75.1 million units in the quarter, giving it 20.9 percent market share, while Apple shipped 41.3 million units for 12.1 percent market share.
Overall, smartphone vendors shipped a total of 342 million units in the quarter, representing a 1.8 percent year-over-year decline. Q2 2018 was the third consecutive quarter of year-over-year declines, IDC said.
While overall market growth has stalled due to factors like increased smartphone penetration rates, IDC said vendors can counter those trends with new innovative features and form factors combined with incentives and promotions.
"It is worth noting that Apple moved into the top position each of the last two holiday quarters following its product refresh, so it's likely we'll see continued movement among the top ranked companies in 2018 and beyond," Ryan Reith, program vice president with IDC's Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers, said in a statement.
Apple's 41.3 million in sales for the quarter represented just 1 percent year-over-year growth; however, Apple reported Tuesday, its iPhone revenues grew by 20 percent year-over-year.
In a conference call with reporters Tuesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook noted that the iPhone X has been the top-selling iPhone since its launch. Even as the worldwide growth of the smartphone market slows, Cook said it's a "great market because it's just huge."
He added, "The iPhone X shows when you deliver great, innovative products... it can be a really good business."