Shipment volume of the global mobile phone industry topped 522.2 million units in the fourth quarter of 2017, 413.3 million of which were contributed by smartphones, according to Taipei-based and government-backed IT research institute MIC (Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute). "Since Samsung's Note 8 shipments concentrated on the third quarter of 2017 and its shipments in the fourth quarter was slightly affected by new iPhone rollouts, Apple is able to regain the top position in the global smartphone market, surpassing Samsung, in the fourth quarter," says Eddie Han, industry analyst with MIC.

Top 10 Mobile Phone Vendors' Shipment Volume Share, 1Q 2015 – 2Q 2018

Note: Shipments in Millions
Source: respective companies, compiled by MIC, March 2018

"With the Chinese market near saturation, India has been a new sweet spot for smartphone vendors around the world to invest in, including Chinese brands. Strong supply chains, coupled with well-planned distribution deployments, and price-competitive product portfolios, have made Chinese brands unstoppable in India that not only threaten other foreign counterparts there but also local ones such as Micromax, Karbonn, and Lava, which are in need of more competitive supply chains."

To see more about this report, please visit: Worldwide Major Mobile Phone Vendor Performance, 4Q 2017 , Worldwide Smartphone Market Forecast, 2018-2022

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About MIC

Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (MIC), based in Taipei, Taiwan, was founded in 1987. MIC is Taiwan's premier IT industry research and consulting firm providing intelligence, in-depth analysis, and strategic consulting services on global IT product and technology trends, focusing on markets and industries in Asia-Pacific. MIC is part of the Institute for Information Industry. https://mic.iii.org.tw/english