Samsung to Release New Foldable Models in Aug.

Worldwide smartphone shipments in Q2

Market research firm Canalys reported on July 16 that Samsung Electronics showed the highest share in the global smartphone market in the second quarter of this year.

The global smartphone market is fluctuating as 5G commercialization is speeding up. Although Samsung Electronics is still leading the market, Apple is doing better and better in the 5G market and Chinese smartphone manufacturers are threatening its presence. Samsung Electronics is making intensive efforts by planning to release new foldable smartphones next month and releasing more inexpensive smartphones, but rivals are also working hard to outdo it.

The new foldable smartphones are Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3, whose debut is scheduled for Aug. 11. Samsung Electronics has recorded the highest share in the market for over 10 years, but Xiaomi is about to catch up with it now. These days, Chinese consumers’ preference for Samsung smartphones is falling while Xiaomi is increasing its market share with inexpensive smartphones.

According to market research firm Canalys, Samsung Electronics posted a global smartphone market share of 19 percent in the second quarter of this year. Xiaomi reached 17 percent and beat Apple by a margin of three percentage points. The Chinese company came in second for the first time since its inception in 2010.

In the Indian smartphone market, which is the second-largest smartphone market in the world, Samsung Electronics came in second with 17 percent and 5.5 million units in shipments. Xiaomi took the top spot with approximately 11 million and Vivo came in third with 5.4 million or so.

In the Russian market, Xiaomi already overtook Samsung Electronics. Last month, Xiaomi’s and Samsung Electronics’ shares in the Russian smartphone market were 31.2 percent and 29.8 percent, respectively.

Samsung Electronics is going backwards in the global 5G smartphone market, too. In the first quarter of this year, Apple took the foremost place in the market in both sales and shipments. Specifically, the sales-based market shares of Apple, Samsung Electronics, Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi were 53 percent, 14 percent, 7 percent, 7 percent and 6 percent, respectively. Their shipments-based shares were 34 percent, 13 percent, 13 percent, 12 percent and 10 percent, respectively.

Samsung Electronics’ declining performance is because it is sluggish in the Chinese market, which is the largest 5G smartphone market in the world. Last year, China accounted for half of global 5G smartphone sales and Samsung Electronics’ share in the market stood at 0.6 percent.

“Samsung Electronics has been boycotted in China since 2016 and explosion of the Galaxy Note 7 has added fuel to the fire,” said a market expert, adding, “Apple has dominated the high-end smartphone market of China and Chinese companies has dominated the other market segment since then, and Xiaomi is likely to overtake Samsung Electronics in the near future as its market shares are rising fast in Western Europe and Latin America.”

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