The battle for dominance of the smartphone industry is getting fiercer than ever as Apple makes a roaring comeback thanks to the iPhone 11
- Apple shipped more smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2019 that rivals Samsung and Huawei, according to new statistics from Strategy Analytics and Canalys.
- Both research firms also cited Apple's cheaper iPhone 11 as part of the reason for its successful quarter.
- The statistics also come just after Apple posted record-breaking all-time revenue in its latest earnings report, partially driven by the iPhone 11.
- The success of Apple's iPhone 11 lineup and high expectations for its rumored 5G iPhone in September suggest the company may give market leaders Samsung and Huawei more competition in 2020.
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For much of last year, Apple's smartphone business struggled. But 2020 is already looking brighter for the Cupertino, Calif.-based tech giant, as new market research statistics suggest Apple shipped more smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2019 than its biggest rivals in the global smartphone industry: Samsung and Huawei.
Apple shipped 70.7 million smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to Strategy Analytics, while Huawei shipped 56 million and Samsung shipped 68.8 million. That lines up with new numbers from Canalys as well, which reported that Apple shipped 78.4 million phones in the last quarter of 2019 while Huawei shipped 56 million and Samsung shipped 70.8 million.
Taken together, Apple's earnings results and the smartphone market share estimates from Canalys and Strategy Analytics suggest the tech giant is on pace to give market leaders Samsung and Huawei fiercer competition throughout 2020.
The smartphone market performed strongly overall after facing several consecutive quarters of decline, with Strategy Analytics reporting that the market remained stable with zero growth and Canalys indicating that the market grew 1% in the fourth quarter.
Both research firms also cite Apple's cheaper iPhone 11 as a key driver of the company's growth in the smartphone market, with Strategy Analytics saying the fourth quarter marked "Apple's best growth performance" since 2015.
The reports also come on the heels of Apple's blockbuster earnings report, which revealed that the iPhone giant earned record-breaking all-time revenue largely driven by demand for the new iPhone 11 lineup and growth in its wearables division. Apple's year-over-year iPhone revenue also finally returned to growth in its fiscal first quarter after sales dropped throughout the last year.
But despite promising sales of the iPhone 11, both Samsung and Huawei still have a larger presence in the smartphone industry than Apple overall. Samsung was the top smartphone vendor with 20.9% of the global market in 2019, according to Strategy Analytics, while Huawei placed in second with 17% and Apple landed in third with 14%.
Although Apple doesn't lead the market in terms of shipments and market share, it does capture a decent chunk of the profits across the mobile handset industry. As Counterpoint Research said last month, Apple captured 66% of industry profits, while Samsung only claimed 17%. That's because Apple is known for selling premium, high-end smartphones, while Samsung has more of a mix of cheaper, mid-tier devices along with its premium Galaxy S line.
Apple is expected to continue doing well throughout 2020, potentially threatening Samsung's and Huawei's dominance. In November, for example,Strategy Analytics predicted that Apple could surpass Samsung and Huawei to become the market leader for 5G smartphones, considering the forthcoming iPhone 12 is rumored to support 5G.
