Gartner published a snapshot of Q1 2019 smartphone, providing a good look at Huawei’s rising market position prior to the May 15 listing of the company on its Entity list.
Overall, Gartner finds that global sales of smartphones to end users declined 2.7% in the first quarter of 2019, totaling 373 million units, as slowing innovation in flagship smartphones and rising prices continued to extend replacement cycles. Sales in the U.S. and China declined by 15.8% and 3.2%, respectively, in the first quarter of 2019.
The report shows continued growth for Huawei all regions, especially Europe and Greater China, where its smartphone sales grew by 69% and 33%, respectively.
“Demand for premium smartphones remained lower than for basic smartphones*, which affected brands such as Samsung and Apple that have significant stakes in high-end smartphones,” said Anshul Gupta, senior research director at Gartner. “In addition, demand for utility smartphones* declined as the rate of upgrading from feature phones to smartphones has slowed, given that 4G feature phones give users great advantages at a lower cost.”
