IDC’s group vice president Ryan Reith believes Huawei’s strong comeback in China and Honor, OnePlus, and Google launching “very competitive devices in the lower price range of the high end” segment played a key role in Samsung’s shipment decline.
Samsung was not the only major Android manufacturer to register a decline in its yearly smartphone shipments. Xiaomi and Oppo occupied the third and fourth slots and saw their yearly shipments decline by 4.7% and 9.9%, respectively.
Makes sense. The Android ecosystem is pretty diverse these days. A lot of companies are making quality phones so it’s spread out more.
TL;DR - A combination of more competition from China in Android smartphones, and an increase in Apple sales, caused Apple to overtake Samsung.
Makes sense. The Android ecosystem is pretty diverse these days. A lot of companies are making quality phones so it’s spread out more.