Service: Market Pulse

Key Takeaways:

• Global Handset Sell-in & Sell-Through Declines
  • Sell-through improved in all regions including USA, Europe and Japan. However, China and India were weak.
  • India, in particular, had a big drop in feature phones as brands like Jio fell to 1.5 million units per month. China and India being the big two markets, this pulled down the global sell through for handsets.
  • Sell in also fell slightly due to higher inventory levels of Chinese brands like Huawei, Xiaomi, and OPPO in the previous months.
• Apple, Samsung and Huawei Register Decline in Sell-Through
  • Apple declined 2% MoM and 5% YoY. iPhone 11 model accounted for more than 33% of Apple volumes during the month.
  • Samsung declined 3.6% MoM and 0.6% YoY. It remained strong in the domestic market with premium flagships and 5G variants. In other APAC markets, it is now pushing its inventory in offline channels with promotions and discounts.
  • Huawei declined 6.3% MoM but remained marginally higher on a YoY basis. Huawei sell-through in China declined while it gained marginally in EU and APAC markets. Demand for mid-range category marginally shifted towards Oppo and Vivo in China. Promotions in online channels remained strong especially for Nova 5 series.
• Apple Maintains Stronghold in Ultra-Premium & Premium Price Band
  • In the ultra-premium price band ($800+), the top four best-selling models accounted for more than 80% of total sell-through. Overall sell-through in this price band increased by 4% MoM. Sell-through of Apple flagships increased further despite the end of promotions after the Black Friday sales.
  • Sell-through in premium ($600-$799) price band also increased marginally by 1.1% MoM. This was driven by Huawei with some contribution by OnePlus. Samsung remained weak as compared to previous month in this price band. LG gained with the G8X ThinQ.

Table of Contents: 

• Key Takeaways
• Global Mobile Handset Market Analysis
• Country-Level Smartphone Market Analysis
• Global Hardware Feature Analysis
• Global Hit Model Analysis

Author: Hanish Bhatia
Number of Pages: 39
Published Date: January 2020

Key Takeaways:

• Global Handset Sell-in & Sell-Through Inclines Further
  • October sell-in was 174M vs sell through of 168.5M. The gap is reducing showing sell-through is improving as the holiday seasons come.
  • Most regions showed growth against last month except for Japan and Korea. India showed extremely strong sales as the Diwali festival took place in October.
  • China is also improving as 5G starts in the market. Huawei is showing an extreme jump in sell-in shipments in China. Huawei’s global sales are holding steady as the sales lost in other regions are offset by China sales. 
  • November might be a better month for Huawei as the Singles day and 5G promotions await them.
• Apple Registers Strong Growth, Samsung Growth Modest While Huawei Declines Marginally
  • Apple gained 17.6% MoM and 13% YoY driven by new iPhone sales. iPhone 11 alone accounted for one-third of total Apple sales during the month.
  • Samsung sell-through grew 4.5% MoM and 2.5% YoY. A series offset the marginal decline caused by softening demand of flagship devices after the iPhone launch.
  • Huawei was down 2.1% MoM, but it grew 7.5% YoY. Huawei has reached same level as it was a year ago in Europe. The ban setback impacted the sales only during Jun-Aug period, although that too was offset by strong performance in China.
• Apple Gains Further in Ultra-Premium & Premium Price Band
  • Ultra-premium $800+ price band was driven by higher end iPhone models, particularly iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max. Sell- through of both models inclined more than 150% MoM. Samsung contribution to this price band was lower as flagship model sales slowed down this month.
  • Premium $600-$799 price band gained further. iPhone 11 sales dominated this price band accounting for more than half of the total sales in this price band. Mate 30 Pro was a distant second to iPhone 11.

Table of Contents: 

• Key Takeaways
• Global Mobile Handset Market Analysis
• Country-Level Smartphone Market Analysis
• Global Hardware Feature Analysis

Author: Hanish Bhatia
Number of Pages: 39
Published Date: December 2019

Key Takeaways: 

• Global Handset Sell-in & Sell-Through Inclines
  • Sell-through was strong compared to August as it jumped 11% MoM. India was most impressive as Diwali related sales promotions helped bolster sales. However it was still weaker than last year.
  • Japan, US and Western Europe also showed strong growth as the new iPhones were launched. Korea enjoyed a jump in sales as 5G promotions continued, along with the new Samsung Note 10 series.
  • Sell-in also jumped but not as much, as many brands have become conservative. So, the sell-in increase was only 9% compared to last month (handset sell-in for September was 166 million). However some brands like Huawei and Realme stuffed the channels for various reasons and we think inventory for these brands will be high until the end of the year.
• ​Apple Registers Strong Growth, Samsung Remains Flat MoM and Huawei Achieves Moderate Growth
  • Apple regained market share with the launch of new iPhone models. It increased 86% MoM and 9.4%YoY. iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro Max remained best selling smartphones within premium ($600-$799) and ultra-premium ($800+) price bands, respectively.
  • Samsung’s sales volume remained nearly flat MoM, but it lost market share. Samsung’s A series models – A20, A10 and A50 are still among top five best-selling smartphones under $300.
  • Huawei declined 7% MoM in China ahead of Apple’s launch, but it gained back in EU with 28% MoM growth. Huawei continues to sit on high inventories in the China region.
• Apple Gains Further in Ultra-Premium & Premium Price Band
  • Ultra premium price band gained with launch of new iPhones – iPhone 11/11 Pro/11 Pro Max. In the first month, iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro Max have gathered strong initial uptake while iPhone 11 Pro demand is comparatively moderate.
  • iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max together accounted for 24% of Apple’s sell-though this month, driving the overall share of the ultra-premium segment. Samsung’s Galaxy Note 10+ also made a significant contribution to the ultra-premium price band as it continues to do well in Korea, the US and other developed markets.
  • iPhone 11 was the main contributor to the premium price band.

Author: Hanish Bhatia
Number of Pages: 39
Published Date: November 2019

Key Takeaways: 

• Global Handset Sell-in & Sell-Through Declined
  • Sell-through was weak during August as it was the holiday season and most European markets were weak. India also showed weakness in demand as with other Asian markets. Japan and Korea were the only markets showing an uptick in sell-out.
  • Sell-in was stronger than sell-through. It dropped only slightly to 153 million units. Still high and increasing inventory levels in the market. We think the Huawei incident has left a mismatch in the market and demand will be weak till the end of the year and inventory woes will continue.
• Apple, Samsung Declined MoM, Huawei and Vivo Register Growth
  • Samsung remains strong with A-series accounting for more than 60% of its volumes. A seasonal dip in demand for other models was offset by the new Galaxy Note 10 models.
  • Apple’s iPhone XR demand was slightly weaker than previous month. Old generation models performed better driven by promotions in Europe, Japan and a few SE Asian markets.
  • The share of the US$300-US$599 price band declined by two percentage points, due to a collective dip in demand for mid-tier HOVX models as well as Samsung Galaxy A series to some extent.
• Apple Dominates Ultra-Premium & Premium Price Band
  • Samsung gained in ultra-premium price band with Galaxy Note 10 series. Meanwhile, demand of Apple flagships was weaker than last month in anticipation of new the iPhone 11 models.
  • Huawei gained share in premium price band, driven by P30 Pro demand in Europe markets. Apple gained marginally in US$300-US$599 price band as iPhone 7 and 8 continue to do well, especially in Japan, Australia and few SEA markets.
  • Huawei gained significant share in US$200-US$299 price band. This was due to collective demand of Nova 5/5i Pro, Y9 Prime and HONOR 9X series.

Author: Hanish Bhatia

Number of Pages: 39

Published Date: October 2019