Global smartphone shipments grow 4.3% on year in 1Q17, says IDC

Global smartphone shipments grow 4.3% on year in 1Q17, says IDC

Steve Shen, DIGITIMES, Taipei [Tuesday 2 May 2017]

Global smartphone shipments totaled 347.4 million units in the first quarter of 2017, up 4.3% from the same period of a year earlier, according to IDC. The first-quarter growth was slightly higher than IDC's previous forecast of a 3.6% growth.

A handful of China-based OEMs, including Huawei, Oppo and Vivo, were the largest catalysts for the first-quarter growth, IDC noted. The potential for this growth trend to continue is high as these vendors are expected to continue to gain share in new territories.

Samsung shipped 79.2 million smartphones in the first quarter and regained control as the leader in the worldwide smartphone market despite a flat first quarter (0% on-year growth). Substantial discounts on the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge helped move last year's flagships as they make way for the new S8 and S8 Plus.

Apple remained essentially flat with shipments reaching 51.6 million units in the first quarter, up slightly from the 51.2 million shipped a year earlier.

Huawei sustained its dominance in China growing 21.7% as shipments climbed from 28.1 million units last year, to 34.2 million units in the first quarter of 2017.

Oppo saw its shipments grow 29.8% on year to 25.6 million units in the first quarter. Oppo's midrange, camera-focused R9s was a crucial model in China that helped it to see strong shipments in the market. Additionally, strong shipments outside of China also helped push up growth at Oppo, IDC indicated.

Vivo shipped 18.1 million units in the first quarter, increasing 23.6% from a year earlier, buoyed by its key model, the x9, IDC said.

Source: Global smartphone shipments grow 4.3% on year in 1Q17, says IDC