Counterpoint Research released the sales estimates for the smartphone market in the third quarter of 2019. The manufacturers’ ranking remains largely unchanged, with Samsung in the first place, Huawei in the second and Apple in the third, but with interesting market shares, given the current climate of the market. It is also interesting to see other brands coming from behind and seriously threatening Apple’s position in the top 3.

Samsung, the leader of the smartphone market for many years, is constantly at the top with a share of 21% of all the smartphones sold worldwide. The company held 21% of the market throughout the year 2019. With 78.2 million smartphones delivered in the third quarter, it will be difficult for other companies, such as Huawei, to take first place, at least without phones equipped with Android from Google.

However, Huawei delivered 66.8 million smartphone units in the third quarter over the same period, a significant increase from last year’s 52 million. Huawei currently holds 18% of the market. Sales also include units sold under the Honor brand.

Finally, Apple has 12% of the global smartphone market, with 44.8 million units sold in the third quarter of 2019. This figure is lower than last year when Apple also owned 12% of the total. market, but with 46.9 million units sold. However, the company saw growth over the second quarter, in which 36.5 million units were sold.

Following Apple, three companies from China – Oppo, Xiaomi, and Vivo – each with over 31 million units sold in the third quarter, equal 8% of the smartphone market in the world. A new name in this top, immediately behind Vivo, is the secondary brand from Oppo, Realme, which has grown 10 times from Q3 2018, with sales of 10 million units in Q3 2019.

There is another interesting aspect to consider: BBK Group, the company that owns Oppo, Vivo, Realme, and OnePlus, has achieved a total market share of 20%, and in the future, it will reach the number one in the world as a group. If we were to calculate the ranking, Huawei would advance to third place and Apple to the fourth. The only other manufacturer, big enough to appear in a ranking, would remain Xiaomi.

All other manufacturers make up only 21% of the market, with a share similar to that held by Samsung and around 84.7 million units of smartphones sold. Overall, in Q3, around 380 million smartphones were sold globally.

The smartphone market is currently capped, with users looking forward to next year’s releases when major changes are expected. One of the most important factors for sales growth will be the 5G, which will reach more users worldwide, while all companies are expected with such models on the market in 2020.

Also, there is the hope that the foldable devices will reach a level of maturity that gives users confidence so they may be willing to pay extra for such models if they manage to prove their advantage over traditional phones.