Samsung's global market share estimated to fall in 2018 for the first time ever (not including 2016)

by Alan Friedman / Dec 14, 2017, 9:46 PM

Samsung's global market share estimated to fall in 2018 for the first time ever (not including 2016)

Despite having strong momentum thanks to some big winners this year, Samsung is expected to lose some market share in 2018 according to Strategy Analytics. Thanks to 2017 models like the Samsung Galaxy S8, Samsung Galaxy S8+ and the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, the manufacturer will have an estimated 20.5% share of the smartphone market this year. But with Chinese manufacturers on the rise, Samsung's global market share is forecast to drop to 19.2% next year.

Samsung is being challenged on the high end by Apple, whose popular iPhone X costs $999 to $1,149. On the low-end, a large contingent of Chinese manufacturers is churning out budget priced handsets that are selling quite well.

If Strategy Analytics is right, next year will see the first year-over-year decline in Samsung's smartphone shipments ever, not including 2016. That was the year when the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 fiasco took place. Due to issues with the batteries placed inside the Galaxy Note 7, several units exploded and caught on fire. The phablet was recalled twice and the entire year was a wipe out as far as Sammy was concerned.

"While the iOS-powered smartphones do not have competitors, Samsung will face tougher challenges in the Android segment."-Park Nam-gyoo, professor of business, Seoul National University.

Samsung is estimated to ship 315 million smartphones in 2018, good for a leading global market share of 19.2%. Apple is expected to be second, shipping 234 million iPhone units next year. That will be good for 14.3% of the world-wide smartphone market next year, up from an estimated 14% for 2017. Huawei will be third, despite passing Apple for the second spot in smartphone sales this past summer, according to Counterpoint Research. Huawei's global market share will be 10% and Oppo will be next with 7.8% of the world-wide smartphone market. As we pointed out, these figures are based on estimates from Strategy Analytics for next year.

source: KoreanHerald

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27 Comments

1. piyath

Posts: 2445; Member since: Mar 23, 2012

This is exactly right! I knew this was coming for once great but now lazy manufactures like Samsung. Just like HTC, Samsung will also go down the hill once it lost it's mojo and momentum. When people hear more and more about Huawei, Apple, Oppo, Xiaomi, Oneplus they certainly will forget about Samsung sooner or later. Also because there are very good low budget smartphones these days the life cycle of a smartphone has also increased, now people change their phone once in every 3 years or so because every phone now a days is very capable and software also getting better. When that differentiating factor is getting blurry and blurry flagship Android market is shrinking rapidly.

posted on Dec 14, 2017, 10:12 PM 9

7. umaru-chan

Posts: 354; Member since: Apr 27, 2017

Xiaomi is slowing killing Samsung in india, one of Samsung biggest market. With really affordable phones like redmi 5 things are going to get worst. If samsung release s9 with same design as s8 as leak suggested it'll be even worse despite whatever samsung dumb Bit**es say here on phonearena.

posted on Dec 14, 2017, 11:37 PM 6

8. Peacetoall unregistered

Samsung were doing well when they used to release value for money products like samsung s2 and s3 that were all affordable flagship at the time , things change after s4 and since samsumg is losing ground.

posted on Dec 15, 2017, 12:02 AM 1

13. sgodsell

Posts: 7209; Member since: Mar 16, 2013

In 2014 Apple sold 191 million iPhones. In 2015 Apple sold 225 million iPhones. In 2016 Apple sold 216 million iPhones. In 2014 Samsung sold 307 million smartphones. In 2015 Samsung sold 320 million smartphones. In 2016 Samsung sold 307 million smartphones. Time will tell the truth. BTW a few Android OEMs have been gaining ground every year.

posted on Dec 15, 2017, 12:59 AM 5

18. Trex95

Posts: 2380; Member since: Mar 03, 2013

Talking about flagship not cheap and mid range Galaxy’s A, C and J. What I see from Samsung apps that released since galaxy S5 to date they sold only 100 million.

posted on Dec 15, 2017, 3:40 AM 0

20. sgodsell

Posts: 7209; Member since: Mar 16, 2013

Btw there is nothing cheap with mid range Galaxy devices, or other mid range smartphones from other OEMs. The cheap part is the pricing. Because there is a ton of competition driving down Android device prices. Where as Apple and their iOS devices has no competition with their OS. However if Apple allowed others to make and sell devices using Apples iOS, then there is no way in hell Apple could charge $1000 for the iPhone X, or $700 for an iPhone 8. If Android devices had the same hardware as the iPhone X or iPhone 8's, then those Android devices running with that hardware, would never sell at Apples pricing.

posted on Dec 15, 2017, 5:48 AM 0

9. Peacetoall unregistered

Gotta agree with that analysis

posted on Dec 15, 2017, 12:03 AM 0

11. HugoBarraCyanogenmod

Posts: 1412; Member since: Jul 06, 2014

Changing phones are like changing clothes. People may easily fed up certain brand faster when they don't deliver. Back then 2013, people laughing at Chinese OEMs Now, Huawei in progress to be No.1. Xiaomi is going to surpass Samsung in India. Oppo-Vivo is the fastest growing market share in 2017

posted on Dec 15, 2017, 12:51 AM 3

12. HugoBarraCyanogenmod

Posts: 1412; Member since: Jul 06, 2014

Also, smartphone these day are so matured, that pricing is the only innovation left. I will buy flagship when they deliver 5000mah battery

posted on Dec 15, 2017, 12:53 AM 1

2. Jrod99

Posts: 714; Member since: Jan 15, 2016

Make some valid points but including Apple with the others you mention will bring down a crap storm. If techie was still around he would write many essays with his data and stats.

posted on Dec 14, 2017, 10:31 PM 0

3. barondebxl

Posts: 180; Member since: Nov 04, 2011

You are absolutely delusional if you think people will forget about Samsung because of Huawei, OnePlus etc... Samsung is not going anywhere.

posted on Dec 14, 2017, 10:33 PM 6

21. midan

Posts: 2709; Member since: Oct 09, 2017

It's happening im many countries already.

posted on Dec 15, 2017, 6:33 AM 0

6. Phantom1031

Posts: 263; Member since: Aug 02, 2014

I think you have been quite mentioning that Samsung is unable to win Apple in flagships, and if you check the shipments than I think mid to low range market belongs to Samsung, and if Samsung is only losing in China then think twice, no one is winning in China as well, except for their local brands. There are other markets as well, where Samsung is still going strong, middle east, europe, africa, india have some population still, where people prefer Samsung over other brands. The whole world does not live in USA & China only. In my country mostly people are holding on to mid and low end Samsung phones, tonnes of them, and our population is 210 millions.

posted on Dec 14, 2017, 10:43 PM 1

10. Obádárà

Posts: 217; Member since: Nov 02, 2015

... I DON'T SEE THAT HAPPENING SOON. BUT SINCERELY, SAMSUNG MAY NEED TO COOK OUT A PLAN TO FIGHT HUAWEI, XIAOMI, OPPO, VIVO AND OTHERS. PRICES ESPECIALLY AND SOFTWARE UPDATES...

posted on Dec 15, 2017, 12:17 AM 1

14. Zylam

Posts: 1813; Member since: Oct 20, 2010

Samsung is being sandwiched from all sides, in the low end they are being destroyed by the rising Chinese OEM's and on the highend they are being wrecked by the mid range Android phones that offer far more value for money. And of course Apple is dominating the premium segment. Samsung is stuck in a bad place at the moment, they are desperate for the profit margins Apple earns on its devices but they face stiff competition that under cuts them. Not to mention Samsung has to spend more on marketing and get the big stars in its commercials to keep the brand image that they have built up over the years, that's why they can't price their flagships more competitively. Phones these days don't really add anything exciting anymore, a reduction in bezel size is pretty much all that's happened in the last few years that's worth being excited over. The main parts of a phone like Screen, Camera, Processors, Metal build, battery life etc have all reached point where yearly upgrades, while always good to get don't really add much to excite anyone. It's an interesting time, Google should really take advantage of the rising upper low end and mid range segment and release rock soild 500 dollar pure Google flagships. The highend is no longer viable, just ask Amazon and Essential. I feel like Google is up to something with its Andromeda OS, in the next few years they are going to cut the OEM's off and become a fully inhouse manufacturer. They pretty much used e everyone to build out their eco system and they have the power to ripp it away. Just gotta get all the hardware defects and sales experience right. At least Samsung has its stellar component sales to fall back on.

posted on Dec 15, 2017, 1:00 AM 2

15. Loubielou

Posts: 603; Member since: Jul 11, 2012

Samsung will have themselves to blame if this happens,by copying the pricIng of there phones same as Apple,they might be the leaders in creating phones,but they are now over pricing there phones they produce,copying Apple might back-fire on Samsung

posted on Dec 15, 2017, 2:08 AM 1

16. whatev

Posts: 2202; Member since: Oct 28, 2015

Samsung will never be as great and big as Nokia was at its peak, now it’s Samsung’s time to go downhill

posted on Dec 15, 2017, 2:29 AM 1

17. Trex95

Posts: 2380; Member since: Mar 03, 2013

One of the main reason for Samsung fall if that’s happen that Apple and Google investing on LG OLED screen technology Apple with 2.7 billion $ and Google with 880 million $ Apple and Google going to have there own OLED panels and no more Samsung Super Amoled panels.

posted on Dec 15, 2017, 3:27 AM 1

19. darkkjedii

Posts: 30966; Member since: Feb 05, 2011

Get me into a Note 9.

posted on Dec 15, 2017, 5:13 AM 1

24. phonedroid

Posts: 23; Member since: Dec 15, 2017

Samsung products are competitive, where they fall behind is customer service to me. Especially their own samsung financing. That and software, the fact that my gear s3 still has both blueborne and krack vulnerability is a pretty big let down. Atleast the phones are not laggy as they used to be. Would like to see samsung improve in these two ways.

posted on Dec 15, 2017, 11:36 AM 0

25. path45th

Posts: 402; Member since: Sep 11, 2016

A mid range Samsung is not any better than an old iPhone like 5s or 6. My iPhone 5s is working faster than most entry level or mid range Samsung phones and now it costs less than 300 US dollars. Moreover, even old iPhones are still premium devices... at 300 dollars or less you normally get plastic android phones that will break with the first drop. To me, seeing how well the iPhone 5s works after over 4 years of heavy use, it wouldn't make sense to upgrade to anything else than an iPhone.

posted on Dec 15, 2017, 10:06 PM 0

26. Timothy.

Posts: 2; Member since: Dec 16, 2017

If u ever think Samsung sales will fall that is a big lie. Samsung will continue to dominate

posted on Dec 16, 2017, 2:07 AM 1

27. johnh3

Posts: 142; Member since: Aug 23, 2012

I think Samsung will decline over time. They still might be the no:1 brand in total sales. But the Chinese competition especially in mid range devices will affect them. And 2018 will be the "real" Nokia comeback. Now they got the sales channels, carrier support in many parts of the world that they have building up in 2017. So it will be very interesting to se how it goes.