Samsung, LG and Vivo Control Worldwide 5G Cell Phone Sales

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – 5G is at the heart of major competition between electronics manufacturers and, at least when it comes to mobile phones, Samsung has led the competition.

A survey by IHS Markit shows that the company held a 74 percent market share in the third quarter of 2019.

Between July and September, Samsung sold 3.2 million 5G smartphones. Out of this total, 1.6 million units were Galaxy Note 10+ which has a version supporting fifth-generation networks. To get an idea, the company had sold 1.5 million 5G handsets throughout the second quarter.

The growth in absolute numbers was recorded along with a decline in share, due to positive results from other companies. LG, for instance, remained in second place in the ranking by increasing from 300,000 to 400,000 5G cell phones sold.

The company is followed by Chinese company Vivo, which did not appear in the previous survey and now holds nine percent of the market. The list is completed by Huawei, Oppo and Xiaomi, selling 100,000 5G smartphones and, together, representing eight percent of this market.

According to IHS Markit, the performance of Chinese companies is explained by the fact that their 5G cell phones are sold outside their country, where their low-cost devices are the most sold. According to the consultancy company, the numbers will improve as 5G progresses in China.

Sales of 5G smartphones increased from 1.8 million units in the second quarter to 4.3 million units in the third quarter. Companies are expected to end 2019 with 13.5 million units sold.

The increase in sales should happen with the drop in prices. The average price of 5G cell phones was US$1,153 (R$4,700), in the second quarter, and dropped to US$994 (R$ 4,050), in the third quarter. Prices need to drop even further to get closer to the general cell phone average, which is US$309 (R$1,260).

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