Thanks to markets like China, India, Western Europe, and Africa, the global smartphone industry enjoyed a 3 percent annual increase in 2016 as a record 1.5 billion units were sold, acording to Strategy Analytics. Even as Samsung faltered with its Galaxy Note 7 fiasco, it still was able to be second over-all in terms of shipment. However other brands like Huawei and especially OPPO are trying to catch up as they expand to more markets outside of their native China. Unfortunately for Android, Apple also enjoyed a pretty good year as the iPhone recaptured first place.
The last quarter of 2016 saw smartphone shipments increase 9 percent as compared to the same period last year. 438.7 million units were shipped this Q4 2016 while 403 million was the number for Q4 2015. It was actually the fastest growth that the industry has seen for over a year, and this is mostly due to the continued growth of large markets like China and Africa. All in all, 1.49 billion units were shipped in 2016, while back in 2015, there was 1.44 billion, signifying a 3 percent annual growth.
In terms of the top brands, due to the Samsung misstep with the battery of the Galaxy Note 7, Apple was able to regain the top spot. The Korean brand was able to get 21% share of the market while Huawei had a record 10% global marketshare at 3rd place. Its Chinese market rival, OPPO, had really good numbers, and even though they only have 7% market share, it was a 99% growth.
The challenge now for OPPO is to expand beyond China and continue their rivalry with Huawei on a more global scale. Huawei has been able to expand in Western Europe even as they suffered domestically, with the onslaught of OPPO and other brands like Vivo who also had a good domestic showing and is fifth globally.
SOURCE: Strategy Analytics
