Starting last year, the components’ prices of smartphones have been rising gradually. Seems this trend will continue in 2018 as well. Though there are some smartphone vendors trying to decrease the prices of their products to make competition to others, the overall market will be affected by it. According to Trend Force, the growth rate of the smartphones sales will remain weak. The annual growth is expected to be around 2.8%. The source estimates the global smartphone production for 2018 at around 1.5 billion units.
Trend Force also came in with a chart showing how the market shares will change. According to it, Samsung will remain in the first position, but its market share will drop from 21.9% to 20.3%. It’s expected to continue making the budget A and J series, but its overall production is estimated to be 300 million units, a decrease of 5% year-over-year.
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Apple was the second in 2017. It should stay there in 2018 as well. The Cupertino-based company is said to come in with three new models in the Q3, 2018, and will expand the adoption of Face ID and all-screen technology in these new iPhones. Thanks to them it should have a 6% increase.
Chinese smartphone makers have been gaining momentum in last years. Initially, they have been struggling in the domestic market only. But now it’s densely populated. So they decided to turn to emerging overseas markets and cooperate with overseas carriers to keep their market shares. Thanks to own-made HiSilicon Kirin chips and 3D Sensing applications. So it’s estimated to increase the sales volume to 176 million units and a market share of 11.6%.
In 2017, OPPO and VIVO showcased astonishing performance with an annual growth of 13% and 17%, respectively. Thanks to this, they were in the fourth and fifth in the world. But they should yield their positions in 2018. On the contrary, Xiaomi will rise to the fourth position in 2018. In 2017, it sold 93 million units. This number is going to rise to 107 million this year. The overall market share of the rest smartphone makers will increase reaching 32.2%.
