Samsung is the number one smartphone brand globally in terms of units sold. However, it has been losing its edge in some Asian and Southeast Asian markets. After it lost to OPPO in the Southeast Asian market during Q4 2019, the South Korean firm regained its top spot during Q1 2020.
According to a new report from market research firm Counterpoint Research, Samsung's market share in the Southeast Asian market reached 18.9 percent during the first quarter of this year. Chinese firm OPPO's market share was 18.7 percent, losing to Samsung by just 0.2 percent. Xiaomi, Vivo, and Realme stood at third, fourth, and fifth places, respectively. Xiaomi's market share was 14.8 percent, while Vivo and Realme captured 13.6 percent and 7.3 percent of the market, respectively.
Samsung has been the biggest smartphone brand in the Southeast Asian market for a few years, but it got beat by OPPO in the last quarter of 2019. It is being reported that improved sales of premium smartphones in the region is boding well for Samsung. Last year, 46 percent of the phones sold in the region were priced below $100, but that number has now dropped to 27 percent. Smartphones priced above $600 contributed to 10 percent of overall sales, up from 4 percent in the previous quarter.
In the global market, Huawei briefly overtook Samsung during April 2020, but the overall number for the quarter showed Samsung as the biggest brand with an 18.5 percent share of the market, while Huawei came in second with a market share of 14.2 percent. The South Korean smartphone giant also improved its ASP (average selling price) to the highest in six years.
