Invaded by Samsung and Huawei

Samsung and Huawei are dialing up their market shares not only in the low- and mid-priced cell phone markets but in the high-priced one while Apple has been shrinking not in the entire smartphone market.
Samsung and Huawei are dialing up their market shares not only in the low- and mid-priced cell phone markets but in the high-priced one while Apple has been shrinking not in the entire smartphone market.

 

Korea’s Samsung Electronics and China’s Huawei are dialing up their market shares not only in the low- and mid-priced cell phone markets but in the high-priced one. By contrast, Apple has been shrinking not only in the entire smartphone market but in the high-end smartphone market.

According to Bloomberg Intelligence (BI) which provides research service on August 21, IDC, a market survey company estimated that in the second quarter of this year, Samsung recorded a market share of 35.9%, up 4.4%p from a year before in the global high-end smartphone (US$ 500 or higher) market. By contrast, Apple’s market share dropped by 9.2%p to 50.9%.  

In the second quarter of last year, Apple and Samsung inked market shares of 60.1% and 31.5%, respectively. Apple’s market share was nearly double Samsung’s. Their gap narrowed to 15% point in one year since then. BI analyzed that Samsung continued to raise its market share as the Galaxy S7 released in March became a hit and at the same time, sales of Apple’s iPhone 6s began to slow down.   

Huawei also expanded its market share in the high-end smartphone market, too. Huawei’s market share nearly tripled to 3.5% from 1.2% a year before. Its market share is expected to further rise in the future. This is because Chinese consumers are turning their eyes to luxury models with a wide array of functions from value models. 

Apple and Samsung are expected to have fierce competition in the luxury smartphone market in the second half of this year. On August 19, Samsung launched the Galaxy Note 7 in Korea, the US and Europe to beat Apple before the launch of the next iPhone.  

Apple is planning to take the wrap off the next model of the iPhone sooner or later.  9to5Mac which specializes in Apple products predicted that the sale of the iPhone 7 ad the iPhone 7 Plus will begin on September 23, one week later than expected. 

 

Copyright © BusinessKorea. Prohibited from unauthorized reproduction and redistribution