Nokia smartphone and feature phone shipments were down in 2019 (+ Q4 2019 results)

Counterpoint Research released their full year and 4th quarter analysis of the mobile market of 2019. In the fourth quarter of 2019, Apple regained the title of the biggest smartphone vendor after 2 years of Samsung’s leadership, while Huawei reported a decline in sales compared to Q4 2018.

Apple secured the top spot in Q4 2019 by shipping 72.9 million iPhone, according to Counterpoint Research. Samsung was the second brand with 70 million shipped units, while Huawei came at number 3 with 56 million shipped units. Interesting to note, combined marketshare of BBK brands – Oppo, Vivo and Realme (+ OnePlus that’s out of top 10), puts BBK as the second biggest vendor with at least 70.5 million units shipped. Nokia Mobile was not in the top 10 list of Q4 2019.

In the full calendar year of 2019, Samsung remained the biggest smartphone vendor with growth of shipments compared to 2018. Samsung shipped 296.5 million units, while Huawei took the second spot with 238.5 million devices shipped. Apple was No. 3 with a decline in shipments compared to 2018, while Xiaomi and Oppo close the top 5. Again, the combined share of BBK brands puts BBK at No. 2 with at least 259.2 million units shipped. I write at least, because OnePlus isn’t counted there. Nokia Mobile didn’t make it to top 10 on this list either.

Regarding Nokia Mobile’s performance, we sent and inquiry to Counterpoint and they were happy to provide the data to us. In Q4 2019, the preliminarily shipment estimate for Nokia Mobile is that the company shipped 2.8 million smartphones, posting a decline of 41% compared to Q4 2018, and 15 million feature phones, which is an 1% increase compared to Q4 2018. On a total year basis, Nokia Mobile shipped 17% less feature phones (53.49 million in 2019 compared to 64.8 million in 2018) and 27% less smartphones (12.9 million compared to 17.59 million in 2018).

Counterpoint analyst Varun Mishra stated this to us about Nokia Mobile’s performance:

While the feature phone increased 1% YoY, the smartphones declined 41% YoY during the quarter.
This is the second consecutive quarter of smartphone decline for Nokia HMD. This can be attributed to the tough competition it is facing from the Chinese OEMs in the mid segment. The OEM is being outcompeted by a higher refresh rate of portfolio of Chinese OEMs bringing industry first features to the lower price band quickly coupled with aggressive distribution and marketing strategies.

There isn’t much to say, besides thank you to Counterpoint for the data and that Nokia Mobile needs a turnaround to succeed on the market.