Samsung again backtracks in China's smartphone market in Q2

SEOUL, Aug 6 (Bernama) -- Samsung Electronics Co. saw its share in China's smartphone market fall back below 1 percent in the second quarter as Chinese consumers bought more domestic brands, reported Yonhap News Agency, quoting industry data on Tuesday.

Samsung Electronics shipped 700,000 smartphones to China in the April-June period, accounting for a mere 0.7 per cent of the market share in the world's largest smartphone market, according to the data from market researcher Strategy Analytics.

The Korean smartphone maker's share in China has steadily retreated from 4.9 per cent in 2016 and 2.1 per cent in 2017, and hovered below 1 percent since the second quarter of 2018 before barely making up 1.1 per cent in the previous quarter.

In contrast, Chinese handset makers posted increased shipments at home.

Huawei shipped 37.3 million units to take up a 37.3 per cent share in the second quarter, followed by Oppo with 19.7 per cent, Vivo with 18.5 per cent and Xiaomi with 12 per cent.

US tech giant Apple shipped 6.2 million to China over the period to take the fifth spot.

In particular, Huawei's shipments jumped in the April-June period, adding 10.2 percentage points from a year earlier, as more Chinese consumers bought devices following the US ban on the Chinese tech company.

In the global market, Samsung maintained its top smartphone vendor position with a 22.3 per cent share, trailed by Huawei's 17.2 per cent in the second quarter, the researcher said.

"We expect Huawei will further gain ground during the second half of 2019 in the home market, at the expense of OPPO, Vivo, Xiaomi, and other small vendors. In contrast, Huawei's outlook in overseas markets remains gloomy and cloudy, given the ongoing US-China tension and the rising regulatory uncertainty in major western countries," Strategy Analytics report said.

-- BERNAMA