Micromax enters China-dominated smartphone supplier list

Article By : Jessica Lipsky

Although Samsung and Apple surpass all other companies in total smartphone shipments by a long shot, both companies are forecast to have slight decreases in overall shipments by the end of 2016. Five of the eight Chinese companies ranked by IC Insights are expected to increase their shipments by at least 5% compared with 2015.

Chinese smartphone suppliers have taken up eight of the top 12 spots for top smartphone IC suppliers in the first quarter of 2016, according to a report from IC Insights.

Indian company Micromax making the list for the first time while Gionee, a China-based smartphone supplier, just missed making this quarter’s top 12 ranking after shipping 4.8 million handsets in Q1’16.

Chinese companies Huawei, OPPO and Xiaomi were all in the top five suppliers.

This contrasts earlier reports of slowing in the Chinese smartphone market, but does reflect well on the country’s efforts to build its chip business. The IC Insights report chalked up the widely predicted slowdown to the Chinese market specifically: “most of the Chinese smartphone producer’s sales are to Chinese customers.”

For example, Coolpad’s smartphone sales dropped by 44% in 2015 to 25.5 million units while Xiaomi—which did well in sales during 2013 and 2014—saw its growth slow to 16% last year, or 71 million smartphones. The company had previously stated that it would ship 100 million smartphones in 2015.

Although Samsung and Apple surpass all other companies in total smartphone shipments by a long shot, both companies are forecast to have slight decreases in overall shipments by the end of 2016. Five of the eight Chinese companies ranked by IC Insights are expected to increase their shipments by at least 5% compared with 2015.

Overall, global smartphone shipments fell 3% to 335 million units in the first three months of this year from the same period a year ago, EE Times earlier reported.

Still, IC Insights forecasts “very little middle ground” among the top 12 suppliers’ smartphone shipment growth rates in 2016. Seven of the top 12 companies are forecast to register 2016 growth rates of 6% or less while the other five companies are expected to each log 29% or better increases.

Japan-based Sony, U.S.-based Microsoft, and China’s Coolpad are expected to drop out of the top 12 ranking this year; each company saw 1Q’16 smartphone sales decline to 3.4, 2.3, and 4 million, respectively. Although Microsoft announced that it intends to sell its non-smartphone business later this year, its early 2016 Lumia smartphones shipments put it on a path to sell less than 15 million units in 2016.