Samsung Electronics was placed third in market share based on revenue within the global smartphone market. On the other hand, Huawei that shipped the most smartphones in the first quarter surpassed Samsung Electronics and was placed second.
According to a market research company called Strategy Analytics (SA), Samsung Electronics was placed third with a 17.3% market share in the second quarter. First place and second place went to Apple and Huawei respectively.
However, SA deleted the corresponding report from its homepage after just one day of posting and adjusted data of few smartphone manufacturers.
Although the difference in market shares between Samsung Electronics became closer from 1.7% to 1.2%, the rankings remained the same. This is the first time Samsung Electronics, which has been competing Apple for the first place, placed below second place since the second quarter of 2011.
Samsung Electronics’ revenue in the second quarter was around $13 billion that is a 26% reduction compared to the second quarter last year. As COVID-19 has been spreading throughout major markets such as North America and Europe, Samsung Electronics took a direct hit to its sales due to local closures and reduced demands.
Galaxy S20, which is its flagship model for the first half, also did not meet Samsung Electronics’ expectations. It is heard that the largest percentage of the company’s revenue came from its entry models as mid-range and low-end smartphones were the most popular models throughout the global market. Although it was able to maintain its profitability by utilizing different costs effectively, it could not keep its revenue from falling due to a huge drop in shipments. Fact that the people in China had shown patriotism in purchasing domestic products as part of a reaction towards the U.S. Government’s sanctions also helped raised Huawei’s market share.
On the other hand, Huawei’s revenue was around $14 billion that is only a 4% drop compared to the second quarter last year. It was able to minimize further loss in revenue as China was able to recover from COVID-19 faster than other countries.
The number of Huawei’s smartphone shipments in the second quarter, which was 55.8 million units, was also ahead of that of Samsung Electronics by a slim margin. It was able to absorb a significant part of demands for 5G conversion within the Chinese market by introducing many new products that support 5G
However, it is unclear whether Huawei will be able to maintain the second place in the next quarter as well. There is a good chance that the ranking is temporary considering additional sanctions that may be imposed by the U.S. Government and as COVID-19 begins to settle down.
Apple maintained the first place with a revenue of $26 billion that is a small increase compared to the second quarter last year. Although it had faced few setbacks in retail sales and production early on due to COVID-19, it was able to recover significantly due to a popularity of its economic model iPhone SE 2.
Staff Reporter Park, Jungeun | jepark@etnews.com