New smartphone brands now more appealing

Apple and Samsung might be the world’s most popular smartphone brands, but they are fast losing market share to new entrants in the market, Chinese smartphone manufacturers are driving sales with their competitively priced, high quality smartphones equipped with innovative features, according to research and advisory company, Gartner.

The shift in buyer preference is positively affecting Chinese manufacturers in their strategy to build desirable features at affordable prices.

FastMobile an emerging smartphone brand in Africa is fast capturing market share with its high-end TrendZ1 smartphone at an affordable price.

According to Gartner, the smartphone market grew 9% in the first quarter of 2017. This shows that consumers are spending more to get better phones, resulting in the rise in average selling prices.

Samsung’s smartphone sales declined 3.1% in the first quarter of 2017 and sales of iPhones were flat, which led to a drop in market share year over year. Similar to Samsung, Apple is increasingly facing fierce competition from Chinese brands.

Huawei edged closer to Apple with smartphone sales amounting to 34 million units in the first quarter of 2017. Despite its P9 and P9 Plus being available for more than a year now, both smartphones continued to sell well, positioning Huawei as a dominant brand in the consumer market.

“Huawei has now steadily held the third spot in the worldwide ranking of smartphone vendors,” said Mr. Gupta. “However, pressure is mounting as its counterparts in China are catching up.”

According to the report, in the smartphone operating system (OS) market, the battle is now clearly between Android and iOS. Growing acceptance of Chinese brands in the global markets, led by high-quality smartphones, is driving Android OS dominance.

FastMobile has followed a consumer-focused strategy of providing high-end features, value-for-money products at the most cost-effective prices. It aims to deliver outstanding values, continuous innovation and an exceptional user experience to its customers.