Global smartphone sales grow 3.9% in Q1 – Estado de Minas

São Paulo, 01 – Global smartphone sales grew 3.9% in the first quarter 2016 compared to the same period last year, from 336 million units to 349 million, according to estimates by Gartner. The total this year is equivalent to about 3.8 million devices sold by day.The study shows that the increased demand for low-cost handsets and 4G devices in emerging markets contributed to increase the demand for smartphones. They now represent 78% of all mobile phones sold from January to April this year.

According to the research director at Gartner, Anshul Gupta, on this scenario, new brands have to compete in the market, while traditional businesses experience a period of sales growth saturation.

“Chinese companies are emerging as the new global brand,” says Gupta. Among the top five smartphone vendors, three are Chinese (Huawei, Oppo and Xiaomi) and account for 17% share of the market.

The first places remained 2015 here. Samsung leader of sales remained stable in the period and now represent 23% of the market. “Galaxy S7 series Mobile and the renewed portfolio positioned the company as a strong competitor in the smartphone sector and even more in emerging countries, where it faced intense competition from local manufacturers,” says Gartner research director.

on the other hand, Apple with 15% market share, recorded its first drop of double-digit sales. The decline was 14%, comparing quarter to quarter. To reverse this situation, the company reduced the price of the iPhone 6S in the United States and in emerging countries, is trying to implement a program to recover and resell iPhones used.

Since the Oppo was the manufacturer to obtain the best performance quarter to the fourth position with a growth of 145% in sales. As Huawei and Xiaomi, the Oppo presented a strong increase in China, conquering of the brands market as Lenovo, Samsung and Yulong.

National Market

Gartner also released estimates of smartphone sales Brazil. Unlike the overall situation in the Brazilian market sales fell by 25%, from 14.6 million handsets sold in the first quarter of 2015 to 10.6 million in the same period this year.

Samsung is also a leader in sales in Brazil, holding 42% market share. Then comes Lenovo, with 19% and the BLU, with 11%.