Huawei passes Apple to take number two spot among global smartphone vendors

In the second quarter of 2018, Huawei surpassed Apple to secure the number two worldwide smartphone vendor position for the first time ever, according to Gartner, Inc. Apple moved into the number three spot, adds the research group. 

Overall, sales of smartphones to end users grew 2% in the second quarter of 2018 to reach 374 million units. Samsung maintained the number one global smartphone vendor spot, declining 12.7% in the second quarter of 2018. Apple’s performance was flat in the second quarter of 2018 (0.9 percent growth). 

“Minimal incremental value in Apple’s current-generation flagship iPhones led to slower growth in the second quarter of 2018,” says Anshul Gupta, research director at Gartner. “Demand for the iPhone X has started to slow down much earlier than when other new models were introduced. Growing competition from Chinese brands and consumers’ greater expectations for phone value is putting immense pressure on Apple to deliver enhanced value on their premium iPhones to foster growth.”

In the smartphone operating system (OS) market, Google’s Android further extended its lead over Apple’s iOS in the second quarter of 2018, securing 88% market share to 11.9% share for iOS, according to Gartner.