Global smartphone AP shipments may show a 0.8% on-year decline to reach 1.59 billion units in 2018, according to Digitimes Research.
Apple may see impressive demand for its three newly released iPhones, shipments for which are expected to surpass 85 million units in the second half of 2018, Digitimes Research estimates. Other smartphone vendors, however, are generally conservative about their shipment results for the entire 2018, despite the upgrades, including all-screen features, to their new devices, according to Digitimes Reseach's newly published Special Report about smartphone AP shipments.
But the smartphone market has entered the third-quarter high season with healthy inventory levels, Digitimes Research believes. Smartphone AP shipments worldwide are estimated to reach 450 million units in third-quarter 2018, down 0.45 on year but up 18.7% sequentially
The Digitimes Research Special Report shows that Qualcomm will remain the top smartphone AP vendor in third-quarter 2018, with total shipments nearing 200 million units. Enjoying a high penetration among leading smartphone AP vendors, Qualcomm will outperform its rivals in terms of third-quarter 2018 shipment growth, as downstream vendors prepare inventory for the high season.
The top-three smartphone AP vendors - namely Qualcomm, MediaTek and Apple - will together command a market share of over 80% in third-quarter 2018, and their combined share will drop to 76.6% in first-quarter 2019, as Qualcomm is expected to feel a major impact from competition from Huawei's and Samsung's in-house-developed smartphone APs, according to the report.