Global smartphone sales of 2019 revealed, with Apple taking top spot in Q4 2019

With 2019 over, it was only a matter of time before analysts shared the big numbers for 2019. Research organisations have provided a few interesting facts to chew on, such as how Samsung still holds the largest smartphone market share, Huawei overtaking Apple for the overall second spot, and Apple managing to snag a top spot for Q4 2019.

According to Counterpoint Research, Huawei surpassed Apple in 2019 owing mostly to sales in the Chinese market. Throughout the year, the company managed to ship an estimate of over 240 million smartphones in 2019. This is despite poorer sales outside of China, which largely resulted from being placed on the US Entity List, according to Canalys. Huawei was banned from using Google Mobile Services and that certainly made affected devices less appealing.

In comparison, Samsung shipped about 298 million smartphones. The company was said to have performed relatively well in sales but didn't see any significant growth, according to Strategy Analytics. On the other hand, Apple's strong showing in 2019 with 78.4 million phones sold was attributed to the unexpectedly excellent iPhone 11, which helped the company secure number one in smartphone sales for Q4 2019.

There are probably many who aren't all too interested in these numbers. But if there's one thing you may want to know it was that global smartphone shipments didn't grow much in 2019. The global demand for smartphones seems to have reached a saturation point, an equilibrium if you will. Of course, though there's no telling what could contribute to major changes to the number for 2020. For example, the coronavirus that's majorly affecting China now.

What do you think of some of the numbers seen here? Does Samsung have what it takes to continue maintaining its lead or will another company overtake it in 2020? Let us know of your expert opinions on our Facebook page and follow us on TechNave.com for more news.