Foxconn Electronics outperformed Samsung Electronics to take the top ranking for the manufacture of smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2017 thanks to orders for iPhone 8 and iPhone X devices from Apple, according to IDC Taiwan.
While Samsung descended from the top to second place in the fourth quarter, Pegatron moved two notches higher to third position, also buoyed by orders from Apple. Oppo and Vivo took the fourth and fifth positions, respectively, in the quarter.
On a yearly basis, the top-10 smartphone makers in 21017 were: Samsung, Foxconn, Oppo, Vivo, Pegatron, LG Electronics, Inventec, Flextronics International, Huaqing Telecom Technology and ZTE, IDC said.
Overall, global smartphone production came to a standstill in the fourth quarter of 2017 due to lingering processes for specs upgrades and a stagnant in sales growth in the China market, resulting in a 13.8% on-year decline and a mere 2.1% sequential gain in smartphone production in the quarter.
Looking into 2018, with the aspect ratios and face detection technology for smartphones likely to continue to evolve, global smartphone shipments are unlikely to stage a significant uptick until the end of the second quarter. Additionally, as demand for smartphones from emerging markets is likely to become the main growth driver for the industry, all major vendors will also focus on producing entry-level and mid-range models to cash in on the market trend, IDC said. |