Global smartphone shipments were 275 million units in the first quarter of 2020, down 17 percent year-over-year, the worst quarterly performance in the smartphone industry's history, according to new report from Strategy Analytics.
In the global smartphone market share, Samsung remained first with 21%, second Huawei stabilized at 18%, while Apple in third place rose slightly to 14%.
Sui Qian, director of smartphone research at Strategy Analytics, said: "As expected, the global smartphone market is performing at its worst ever. Demand for smartphones plunged in the quarter as the Covid-19 virus shut down major economies like China and shoppers shelved their spending plans."
Samsung shipped 58.3 million smartphones worldwide in the first quarter of 2020, down 19 percent from 71.8 million in the first quarter of 2019. It was Samsung's lowest quarterly smartphone shipments in eight years.
Despite a strong lineup of A, S and Note series models, Samsung can't escape a virus-induced plunge in smartphone demand.
Samsung's global market share has held steady at over 21% and it remains the world's top smartphone brand.
Huawei came in second, shipping 48.5 million smartphones worldwide in the first quarter of 2020, down 18 percent from 59.1 million a year earlier.
Neil Mawston, executive research director at Strategy Analytics, said: "Despite the US-China trade war and the Covid-19 virus scare, Huawei was able to maintain its global smartphone share at a respectable 18 percent in the quarter. China remains Huawei's core region, where the majority of its sales are located."
Apple's iPhone shipments fell 9% year-over-year, a better-than-expected decline, from 43.1 million units worldwide in the first quarter of 2019 to 39.2 million units in the first quarter of 2020.
Apple's share of the global smartphone market rose to 14 percent from 13 percent last year.
Strategy Analytics research director Woody Oh added, "Apple's new iPhone SE model is lower priced and has greater reach in emerging markets such as India, which will benefit Apple in further increasing sales in the coming months."
Xiaomi remained in fourth place, capturing a record 10% of the global smartphone market in the first quarter of 2020, compared to 8% in the same period last year.
Xiaomi is currently capturing the huge Indian market, which has given the company a huge boost in smartphone shipments.
OPPO held the fifth spot in the global smartphone market with 8 percent in the quarter, tied with 8 percent in the same period last year.
Sui Qian added, "OPPO continues to expand into Western Europe and beyond with high-profile models like the Reno 3 5G. However, OPPO has been contracting in the US smartphone market in recent months, and the region remains a major gap in its portfolio strategy."
The full report is published by the Strategy Analytics Wireless Smartphone Strategy (WSS) service and its details can be found at the following link: https://tinyurl.com/y75uhw62
