Global smartphone production volume for 2019 is expected to be 1.41 billion units, a decrease of 3.3% compared with 2018, according to the latest report by TrendForce. Brands would record lower production volumes this year because the overall demand outlook in the global smartphone market remains weak. The lack of breakthrough features or specs has made the consumers less active than before with respect to replacing their existing devices. If the demand outlook becomes worse, together with uncertainties and impacts from the U.S.-China trade war, the decline in global smartphone production may reach 5% in 2019. As for the global ranking of smartphone market share, Samsung would remain the market leader, while Huawei is expected to surpass Apple to become the world's second largest smartphone maker. Apple would then take the third place.
Development of 5G products and network has been ongoing in the past years. And the commercialization of 5G is expected to roll out in 2019, with 5G telecom services to be planned in the United States, South Korea, Japan, and China, etc. The arrival of 5G smartphones will also be in the spotlight this year. According to TrendForce’s latest report, Android smartphone brands, such as Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, Vivo, and One Plus, all have a chance to launch 5G smartphones in 2019. However, the production volume of 5G models would only be 5 million units this year, a penetration rate of 0.4%, since the construction of 5G related infrastructure has not been fully completed.
TrendForce expects the global shipments of VR devices to reach 4.65 million units in 2018, and 6 million units in 2019, a YoY growth of 29%. Oculus’s strategy of price cut has successfully boosted sales since the release of Oculus Quest at the beginning of this year.
According to TrendForce’s latest report on this year’s smartphone production, the total volume for 3Q18 grew by 8% from 2Q18 to around 380 million. The growth was attributed to a gradual recovery of demand in 2Q18 and the stock-up of inventories related to releases of new devices and holiday sales events. Although the latest products from Apple and Huawei continue to generate demand in the smartphone market, the sales of new iPhone XR/XS/XS Max turned out to fall short of expectation, resulting in lower shipments of iPhones. Therefore, DRAMeXchange estimates that the total production volume for 4Q18 will be roughly similar to that of 3Q18, coming to around 380 million units.
TrendForce has published a new report profiling the latest trends in the global smart speaker market. According to data in the report, the global shipments of smart speakers are expected to reach 62.25 million units in 2018. Driven by the expansion of Google Home into more regions and the growth of smart speaker market in China, the shipments would increase further by 53% YoY, reaching 95.25 million units in 2019. With the strongest growth momentum among all categories of consumer electronics, smart speakers have emerged as a major application of voice interactions and are fast becoming the gateway to other smart-home products as well as the vast ecosystems. Companies including Apple, Facebook, Baidu, and Tencent have all entered the market this year, in addition to first movers.