Samsung and Apple have just announced utterly disastrous quarterly results. Both manufacturers are facing fierce competition from the Chinese manufacturers. Among them are Huawei, the outsider who dreams of dethroning Samsung from his number one spot, but alos Xiaomi, and Oppo.

According to IDC, Huawei managed to overtake Apple in the second quarter of 2018, selling more devices than its rival. The following quarter, Chinese repeated the feat by capturing 14.6% of the market share, up more than 4% compared to last year. The brand thus inherited 3rd place, with 13.2% of the shares.

With the rise of the Chinese brands, Samsung’s market share fell from quarter to quarter, to 20%.

Samsung and Apple announce catastrophic results in the fourth quarter of 2018

Thus, a few days apart, Samsung and Apple announced disastrous results. Tim Cook’s firm opened the ball rolling, announcing sales of $84 billion for the fourth quarter of 2018, well below analysts’ expectations. Among the causes of these poor figures, analysts point to iPhone XS, XS Max and XR sales below estimates.

A few days after its rival, Samsung announced a turnover of 53 billion dollars, 28% less than at the end of 2017. The manufacturer even recorded a 38% decrease compared to the 3rd quarter of 2018. The brand directly pays for the commercial failure of the Galaxy S9, the flagship released in early 2018.

Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo, and others are hitting the mark

Indeed, while Apple and Samsung’s market share is declining, Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo and other Chinese firms are recording sharply higher results. The success of the Huawei P20 and P20 Pro, which sold 6 million units in 3 months, and the Mate 20 Pro, which is even better than the P20 Pro on the European market, Huawei managed to consolidate its second place against its two rivals.

On the strength of this success, the Chinese manufacturer hopes to overtake Samsung in 2019. The sales gap between the two companies is narrowing from quarter to quarter.
In parallel with the growth of Huawei and the collapse of Apple and Samsung, Xiaomi continues to rise. It inherits the 4th place in the market, with 9.5% of the shares, compared to only 4.3% at the beginning of 2017.

Oppo closely follows the leading quartet. The Chinese manufacturer holds up to 8.6% of the market.

These figures reveal a trend: Chinese outsiders, once mocked and ignored by consumers, are gradually grabbing the mastodon’s share of the sector. In a market that is in sharp decline, how will Apple and Samsung defend their gains in 2019? Will the two manufacturers have to give away the lion’s share to the Chinese brands, which compete in ingenuity and audacity?