Worldwide smartphone shipments decreased 1.1% year over year in Q4 2019, and it was down 2.3% YoY for the whole 2019, according to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. In total, companies shipped a 368.8 million smartphones during Q4 2019, and the total shipments for 2019 was 1371 million. This is third consecutive year of falling shipments despite the launch of 5G and foldable phones.
The overall decline was partly due to weak shipment growth in China, where consumers are still waiting for cheaper 5G handsets to hit the market alongside increased network coverage and 5G speeds, according to IDC.
Apple tops with 20% share, up 7.9% YoY in Q4 2019, thanks to strong performance in the holiday quarter, similar to 2018. Samsung grabbed 18.8% share and saw 1.2% YoY decline, and HUAWEI grabbed the third spot with 15.2%. Xiaomi grabbed 8.9% share which is a 31.1% increase YoY with strong sales of Redmi 8/Note 8 series in the Indian market, and OPPO saw 4.2% increase with 8.3% market share.
Coming to full 2019 share, Samsung leads with 21.6% share, which is a 1.2% increase compared to 2018. HUAWEI grabbed the second spot with 17.6% share, 16.8% up YoY despite ongoing challenges outside of China. Apple slipped to the third spot with 13.9% share, down 8.5% YoY. Xiaomi grabbed the fourth spot with 9.2% share, which is a 5.5% increase YoY, and OPPO is in the fifth spot with 8.3% share, up 0.9% YoY.
According to Counterpoint data, Vivo grabbed the sixth spot in 2019 with 8% share, Lenovo grabbed the seventh spot with 3% share, LG and Realme grabbed eighth and ninth spots, respectively with 2% share each. TECNO is in the 10th spot with 1% share, same as 2018.