Smartphone sales have been on the decline for Q3 2019 according to Gartner. This was the third consecutive quarter of decline for smartphone sales, but the smallest decline of the year, with a 1.7% drop in the second quarter of 2019, and a 2.7% drop in the first quarter of 2019. On the bright side, however, sales are expected to pick up again next year.

“We expect 2020 to be a growth year,” says Anshul Gupta, a senior research director at Gartner. According to him, “midtier smartphones will remain key to drive growth across market segments worldwide more so in emerging markets due to aspirations to own best possible smartphone,”.

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Brands such as Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, and Vivo have been able to improve their entry-level and midtier portfolios as a result of this shift in purchasing decisions, and Huawei, Samsung and OPPO have grown in the third quarter of 2019 as a result. In comparison, Apple has seen a double-digit decline in sales in a year-over-year comparison.

Huawei in the meanwhile has recorded double-digit sales growth despite the slowing smartphone market, and was the only one of the top-five global smartphone vendors with double-digit growth in smartphone sales in the third quarter of 2019. This is in spite of the US ban on Huawei, which has resulted in greater sales in China.

One of the chief issues driving the drop in sales is a lack of value in smartphones. Consumers no longer what to buy the least-expensive smartphone, nor the most expensive smartphone. Instead, they’re opting for mid-tier smartphones that provide better value. This makes sense considering how far mid-range devices have come as of late.

If premium devices are to make a resurgence in terms of sales, they’ll need to bring something new to the table. Companies are pushing 5G heavily right now, and many are looking towards foldable designs to innovate. Whether these investments pay off remains to be seen, but something needs to be done to shake up the premium end of the market.

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(Source)

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