Global smartphone shipments will continue to decline for the second year in 2019. Although emerging markets have demand coming from feature phone users switching to smartphones, it takes longer for consumers in mature markets to upgrade their phones, resulting in the decline in overall smartphone shipments.
Global tablet shipments amounted to 32.66 million units in second-quarter 2019, down 8.7% on quarter and 11.9% on year due to slow season, Apple's new products making little contribution to its shipments and Huawei's performance taking a hit by the US trade ban.
With Huawei already stocking up on crucial components, the US Commerce Department's ban will not stop Huawei from providing its products and services in the short term. However, the ban has spooked consumers, enterprises and telecom operators, shaking their confidence in Huawei's ability to continue delivering quality products and services in the future.
China smartphone market experienced a sluggish fourth-quarter in 2018 amid a weakening economy, instead of strong domestic demand in the period - traditionally a high season.
Having ramped up their combined smartphone shipments by 6.5% on year to 192 million units in the third quarter of 2018, China-based vendors are likely to see a single-digit shipment decrease in the fourth quarter due to weakening demand in the domestic market and competition resulting from the availability of new iPhone devices, according to Digitimes Research.
Digitimes Research estimates global smartphone shipments will not be able to break through the 1.5 billion unit mark by 2019 as 5G communication has yet to spur a wave of upgrades and the 4G smart feature phone ecosystem has yet to complete.
This DIGITIMES Special Report provides insights into various aspects of the smartphone AP market, including suppliers' shipments, market shares, manufacturing processes, and the incorporating of AI in the processors.
Shipments to the China market rebounded to a level above 90 million units in second-quarter 2018, with an on-quarter growth nearing 10%, according to Digitimes Research statistics.
