A drop in iPhone shipments negatively impacted the global premium smartphone market, according to new data from market research firm Counterpoint. A sales slowdown in China also had a negative impact.
Apple Shipments Down
Counterpoint’s latest Market Monitor Service revealed that in the first three months of 2019 iPhone shipments fell 20% year-on-year. This caused an 8% year-on-year fall in the market segment as a whole. A blog post looking at the research said that people replacing their phones less frequently had contributed to reduced Apple’s shipments.
The trend of users holding onto their iPhones for longer has affected Apple’s shipments. The replacement cycle for iPhones has grown to over three years, on an average, from two years.
Furthermore, the introduction of Galaxy S10 with the “substantial design changes” and “better value proposition it offers compared to high-end iPhones” reduced the gap between Samsung and Apple. The research also noted that Huawei overtook Apple in China. Its premium smartphones outsold the iPhone there.
iPhone Still Dominates
Despite this, Apple had 47% of premium smartphone market shipments during Q1 2019. In comparison, Samsung had 25% and Huawei had 8%. Furthermore, Counterpoint said that the introduction of 5G will breathe some life back into the market. 5G compatible smartphones are expected to arrive towards the end of 2019 and in 2020.