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Counterpoint Research has just published its latest Market Pulse report for the ten best-selling smartphones globally in Q3 2019. The top ten list includes eight Android smartphones and two iPhone models. And surprisingly, Samsung’s entry-level smartphone Galaxy A10 has emerged as the best-selling Android smartphone during the third quarter of the year.
With a global market share of 2.6 percent, the Samsung Galaxy A10 was second only to Apple’s iPhone XR in Q3 2019. The iPhone XR, which accounted for three percent of the total smartphones sold during the same period, has been the best selling smartphone every quarter since Q4 last year, Counterpoint says.
Samsung has two more Galaxy A phones in the top ten. Galaxy A50, which is perhaps the most appealing mid-range offering from Samsung this year, was the second most popular Android smartphone during the three month period between July to September 2019. The smartphone sits third in the overall list with a global market share of 1.9 percent.
The Galaxy A20 is the third Samsung smartphone to make it to the top ten list. Capturing 1.4 percent of the global market, the handset was the seventh most popular smartphone during the quarter and fifth best-selling Android smartphone.
Like Samsung, Oppo also has three A series devices in the top ten list. The Oppo A9, Oppo A5s, and the Oppo A5 find themselves at the number four, number six, and number eight spots with 1.6 percent, 1.5 percent, and 1.3 percent global market share respectively.
Apple’s iPhone 11 sneaks in at the number five spot with 1.6 percent market share globally. Xiaomi’s Redmi 7A with a 1.2 percent market share was the ninth most popular smartphone during the quarter. The Huawei P30 completes the top ten with a 1.1 percent market share.
Mid-range phones toppling the flagships
As you could see, Huawei’s P30 is the only Android flagship in the top ten list, at the tenth spot. Neither of Samsung’s Galaxy S10 and Galaxy Note 10 flagships makes the cut. To be fair, S10 was launched in Q1 and people buying a Samsung flagship in Q3 probably waited for Note 10, which arrived too late Q3 to get a fair shot. Expect Note 10 to make an appearance in the chart for the fourth quarter of the year.
However, that’s certainly not the only reason. Counterpoint says the combined sales of the top ten models increased nine percent year on year from 15 percent in Q3 2018 to 17 percent in Q3 2019. However, the combined revenue fell 30 percent year on year. Also, the top ten list featured five flagships last year, but only three this year.
This indicates that people are increasingly opting for mid-range smartphones as they are getting more and more powerful with each passing quarter. Increasing competition among OEMs means a flurry of traditionally premium features is now making their way into mid-range phones, making them an excellent value proposition. Expect this trend to continue with the arrival of mid-range 5G phones next year.
