Samsung To Experience First Ever Yearly Decline In Smartphone Shipments

The nightmare continues for Samsung. It appears that the South Korean phone maker will suffer its first ever decline in yearly volume of smartphone shipments. According to research firm TrendForce, shipments of Samsung’s smartphone devices are expected to decrease 1 percent compared to last year’s shipment volume.

The last year has not been so kind to Samsung. The South Korean mobile giant was considered a worthy competitor to the might that is Apple, with its Galaxy line of smartphones competing with Apple’s popular iPhone devices. But the last few quarters have seen Samsung’s sales figures and market share continue to drop.

Of course, the presence of aggressive Chinese phone maker upstarts such as Xiaomi and Huawei have contributed immensely in Samsung’s predicament. These China based companies have now usurped mobile consumers, especially in low end to midrange markets, by offering inexpensive but feature heavy smartphone devices. As for upstart Huawei, it has shipped 100 million units of smartphones, earning the distinction of being the first Chinese phone maker to breach the 100 millionth mark. For 2015, TrendForce expects Huawei’s smartphone shipments to increase by 40 percent compared to last year’s. 

It is not for lack of trying for Samsung. The company managed to release new flagship devices this year, with the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 Edge, but both devices so far have failed to reverse the South Korean tech giant’s sales woes. For the quarter ended in June this year, Samsung posted its seventh straight decrease in quarterly revenues. 

Because of Samsung’s sales performance in recent quarters, TrendForce amended its projected shipments for the Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S series for 2015 to 40 million units (the firm did not reveal its previous projection). TrendForce also stated that it expects about 10 million units of the Galaxy Note 5 to ship by December’s end. As predicted by TrendForce, Samsung is expecting a total yearly smartphone shipment figure of 323.5 million units for 2015.

Still, despite Samsung’s projected drop in annual smartphone shipment volume, it remains on number 1 in terms of the worldwide smartphone market. For the quarter ended on September, Samsung enjoyed a 24.6 percent market share, but it is down compared to the second quarter’s 26.7 percent market share.

On number 2, of course, is Apple, with a 13.7 percent market share, which is down compared to the 15.4 percent market share it managed in the previous quarter. Huawei is on third place, with an 8.4 percent market share, up from the 7.5 percent market share it posted a quarter ago.