Global shipments of notch smartphones - models with a u-shape notch at the top of the display - from the top-six vendors totaled 86.1 million units in the first half of 2018, according to data from Sigmaintell Consulting.

Huawei was the top vendor of notch-type smartphones with shipments totaling 25.4 million units in the first half; Apple ranked second with a shipment of 20.7 million units, followed by Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi. Samsung Electronics was the only one out of the top-six vendors that did not launch notch models in the first half.

Sigmaintell also estimated that global smartphone shipments totaled 604 million units in the first half of 2018, down 3.3% on year. Among them, shipments by China-based vendors fell by a rate higher than the industry's average at 6.9% to 210 million units during the six-month period.

Huawei also shipped about 95.36 million smartphones in the first half of 2018, trailing only Samsung to serve as the second largest vendor worldwide with a 14.9% share, Sigmaintell estimated.

Xiaomi ranked fourth worldwide with shipments totaling 60 million units for an 8.7% share, an increase of 4pp from a year earlier.

In line with decreased smartphone shipments, global shipments of smartphone panels (based on open cell models) also dipped 1.7% on year to 930 million units in the first half despite the growing demand for all-screen and profile-cut panels.

In terms of technology, shipments of a-Si LCD (including Oxide LCD) handset panels reached 390 million units during the January-June period, seeing their share of the global handset panel shipments drop to 42% from 50% a year earlier.

On the other hand, shipments of LTPS LCD panels jumped 23.7% on year to 340 million units for a 36% share compared to 29% a year ago.

However, shipments of AMOLED handset panels were down 2.6% on year to 200 million units, accounting for a 21% share in the global handset panel segment.