Tag: Samsung

Huawei grows while smartphone market slumps in Q3

The Honor Pro has helped Huawei grow in Q3.Amid a 0.4 percent contraction in the global smartphone market in Q3 compared to the corresponding quarter last year, Huawei continued to stride ahead with 26 percent growth. It has narrowed the gap with Samsung at the top while pulling away from Apple in third spot.

China and Brazil buck trend as smartphone sales slump in Q2

Samsung Galaxy Note comes of age

By Edward Lim

When it was first introduced in 2011, the Samsung Galaxy Note received brickbats for its 5.3-inch screen size with critics wondering if this was a wrong move for the Korean smartphone maker. History has proven that Samsung had made the right bet as others followed suit with larger screen sizes as well.

Huawei bucks the trend as global smartphone shipment shrinks in Q1

The Huawei P30 series is helping the smartphone maker rise up the global ranking.
The Huawei P30 series is helping the smartphone maker rise up the global ranking.

While its competitors struggled, Huawei strode ahead and emerged the winner in the worldwide smartphone market in Q1. Though it’s still behind market leader Samsung, the China-based smartphone giant narrowed the gap with an astounding 50 percent growth in the quarter, according to IDC.

Samsung introduces second edition of Frame TV in Hong Kong

The Frame 2.0 is a masterpiece.
The Frame 2.0 is a masterpiece.

Televisions have come a long way since the days when one can be kept for decades and handed down to the next generation. The goggleboxes of old were also centre pieces that were much to be admired and where families and even communities gathered.  

Global smartphone shipment slides 6% in Q3

Smartphone vendors shipped 355.2 million units in Q3, down six percent from the corresponding quarter last year, according to preliminary estimates by IDC. This is the fourth straight quarter of year-on-year decline.

Samsung and Xiaomi neck-to-neck in India in Q2

The Redmi 5A was Xiaomi's bestselling phone in India in Q2.
The Redmi 5A was Xiaomi’s bestselling phone in India in Q2.

Xiaomi and Samsung shipped 9.9 million smartphones each to India in Q2. Together they account for 60 percent of the total shipment that quarter, according to Canalys.

HTC to slice 1,500 from workforce

Even the Vive wasn't enough to keep HTC intact.
Even the Vive wasn’t enough to keep HTC intact.

Taiwan smartphone maker HTC is making a cut of the most painful kind — by slicing 20 percent of its workforce. The decision to swallow the bitter pill comes in the wake of heavy losses and strong competition.

Smartwatch market heading towards steady growth

The Fitbit Versa has been well-received by the market.
The Fitbit Versa has been well-received by the market.

The worldwide wearables market is adjusting as smartwatches continue to come to the forefront. In the coming years, smartwatches will encompass more features and functionalities.

India smartphone market posts strongest Q1 shipment

The popular Redmi 5A has helped Xiaomi retain its pole position in India.
The popular Redmi 5A has helped Xiaomi retain its pole position in India.

The India smartphone market shipped 30 million units in Q1, the strongest Q1 performance ever and an 11-percent growth year on year, according to IDC.

Xiaomi tops India smartphone market in Q1

Xiaomi shipped 3.5 million Redmi Note 5A smartphones in Q1.
Xiaomi shipped 3.5 million Redmi Note 5A smartphones in Q1.

Building on a momentum of 155 percent annual shipment growth in India last year, Xiaomi started Q1 at the top with a whopping nine million plus units to snag 31 percent market share, according to Canalys.

New Android devices boost Australia smartphone market in Q2

New Android mobile phone launches spurred growth in Australia, leading to year-on-year growth of 18.4 percent to 2.16 million units, exceeding expectations in Q2, according to IDC.

Smartphones accounted for nearly all of the shipped phones — totalling 2.06 million.

Android returned to being the most popular smartphone OS in Australia. Recently, iOS had overtaken Android as the most popular smartphone OS in Q4 2016 as it held over 54 percent of the market compared to 47 percent for Android.

China vendors corner India smartphone market

China-based vendors strengthened their grip in the India smartphone market, snaring 51.4 percent share of the smartphone shipment in Q1, according to IDC. They grew 16.9 percent sequentially and an impressive 142.6 percent over the same period last year.

In contrast, share of homegrown vendors dropped to 13.5 percent in the Q1 from 40.5 percent in the same quarter last year.

Overall, 27 million smartphones were shipped in Q1, a  14.8 percent growth over the same period last year. Unlike last year, shipment grew sequentially in the first quarter of 2017 by 4.7 percent recovering from demonetisation impact in Q4.

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China smartphone market hits record high

The very popular Huawei Mate 9 helped propel Huawei to the top.
The very popular Huawei Mate 9 helped propel Huawei to the top.

Everybody knows China is big but with nearly half a billion smartphones shipped last year, the market is massive — that’s one smartphone for every three person in the world’s most populous country.

According to Canalys estimates, China reached 476.5 million unit shipment, growing year on year at 11.4 percent, far exceeding the annual growth rate of 1.9 percent in 2015. China shipment reached 131.6 million units in Q4, which is the highest single quarter total in history, accounting for nearly a third of worldwide shipment.

Huawei took the top spot in the market with 76.2 million shipment, a small lead ahead of runner-up Oppo with 73.2 million units, followed by Vivo in third place at 63.2 million units.

China phone makers dominate India market in Q4

CanalysWhile Samsung remained at the top, China smartphone makers occupied four of the top five positions to snare the lion’s share in India in Q4, according to Canalys.

Their extremely price-competitive devices pushed out India makers, who have been hit hard by the Indian government’s decision to demonetise the INR500 and INR1,000 (US$7.30 and US$14.65) banknotes.

“Local brands’ target customers typically buy in cash and from independent retailers. With the short-term liquidity crunch caused by demonetisation, these retailers are suffering a slowdown in consumer spending. Local vendors are losing out as retailers look to shift their stock to fast-moving, current devices. In Q4 2015, Micromax, Intex and Lava took second, third and fifth place, accounting for almost 30 percent of the market. One year on and all three vendors have dropped out of the top five, with their collective share falling to around 11 percent,” said Rushabh Doshi, Analyst of Canalys.

Bye, bye Galaxy Note 7

samsuing-galaxy-note-7-page

The Galaxy Note 7 page on Samsung Singapore’s website says it all. It’s a dark day for Samsung.

Just two months after the Korean giant announced its newest Galaxy Note, the smartphone has gone into history, in possibly the shortest lived model. The company has discontinued production of the smartphone.

The Galaxy Note 7 had the features to take on the Apple iPhone 7 but somehow things didn’t work out properly. Exploding phones while charging led to recalls and even bans from airlines. Even newly-exchanged phones were reported to be facing the same problems.

Philippines is fastest growing smartphone market in SEA

IDCThe Philippines smartphone market jumped 20 percent in Q1, according to IDC. With a projected annual growth of 25 percent this year, this makes the country the fastest growing smartphone market in Southeast Asia (SEA).

“While many of the more mature smartphone markets of the world already displayed signs of saturation, the Philippines smartphone market continues to enjoy robust growth owing to a relatively low smartphone penetration rate (30 percent in 2015), active local brand presence, and healthy consumer spending,” said Jerome Dominguez, Market Analyst for Mobile Devices of IDC Philippines.

Local vendors continue to dominate the Philippines smartphone market as they flood it with the most affordable smartphone options.