Apple Slipped To Third Spot Behind Huawei For Worldwide Smartphone Shipments In Q1 2019

A new report from IDC this evening take a look at Apple's iPhone sale performance, in which it claims that only an estimated 36.4 milli...

A new report from IDC this evening take a look at Apple's iPhone sale performance, in which it claims that only an estimated 36.4 million iPhones units were shipped in the first calendar quarter of the year, down an astonishing 30.2 percent from 52.2 million iPhones shipped in the first quarter of 2018, this placed Apple behind Chinese smartphone maker Huawei, who took the number two spot.

Samsung, on the other hand, continues to drive the smartphone market, with the company shipped a total of 71.9 million units with a market share of 23.1%, down from previous 78.2 million units and a market share of 23.5. Huawei, meanwhile, held a 19 percent market share, with 59.1 million in shipments. Ranked in the fourth, fifth, and sixth place are Xiaomi, Vivo, and OPPO, all are Chinese companies.

Apple had a challenging first quarter as shipments dropped to 36.4 million units representing a staggering 30.2% decline from last year. The iPhone struggled to win over consumers in most major markets as competitors continue to eat away at Apple's market share. Price cuts in China throughout the quarter along with favorable trade-in deals in many markets were still not enough to encourage consumers to upgrade. Combine this with the fact that most competitors will shortly launch 5G phones and new foldable devices, the iPhone could face a difficult remainder of the year. Despite the lackluster quarter, Apple's strong installed base along with its recent agreement with Qualcomm will be viewed as the light at the end of the tunnel heading into 2020 for the Cupertino-based giant.

Overall, IDC noticed that the smartphone shipments drop in 1Q 2019 marked the sixth consecutive quarter of decline. The firm predicted that 2019 will be another down year for worldwide smartphone shipments