Smartphone Assembly Volumes Increase 11.9% in the Second Quarter

According to the latest results from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Smartphone ODM Qview, worldwide smartphone assembly shipment volumes increased 11.9% quarter over quarter during the second quarter of 2019 (2Q19) with total shipments of 332.6 million. The gains were largely due to inventory decreasing in 1Q19 and vendors competing for market share.

“Falling inventory combined with increased competition caused global smartphone production to increase 11.9% (QoQ) in 2Q19,” said Sean Kao, senior research manager with IDC’s Worldwide Smartphone ODM Research Group. “However, a more pessimistic outlook on the global economy due to the US-China trade war has led to a production drop in June. As a result, worldwide smartphone assembly shipment volumes showed a year-over-year decrease of 3.5%.”

Due to ODM policy and partner changes from Huawei, OPPO, and Xiaomi, the ranking and market share of Chinese EMSes have improved significantly. The market share of Chinese smartphone ODM/EMS assembly shipment volumes increased from 40.7% in 1Q19 to 51.3% in 2Q19. 

Worldwide Top 5 Smartphone Assembly Vendors’ Shipment Volume Ranking, 2015 – 2Q2019
  2015 2016 2017 2018 1Q19 2Q19
1 Samsung Samsung Samsung Samsung Samsung Samsung
2 Foxconn Foxconn Foxconn Foxconn Foxconn Foxconn
3 Pegatron OPPO OPPO OPPO Flex vivo
4 LG Pegatron Vivo vivo vivo OPPO
5 Huaqin vivo Pegatron Pegatron OPPO Huaqin
Source: IDC Worldwide ODM & Display Industry Research Group, August 2019

The ranking on this list is based on complete knock-down (CKD) assembly, which includes in-house assembly, but excludes design without assembly.

Looking ahead, IDC expects smartphone ODM/EMS assembly volumes to slow down in July and August due to Samsung and Huawei lowering regional market targets, combined with high inventory and the US-China trade war.

IDC Worldwide ODM & Display Industry Research

The object of IDC’s Worldwide ODM & Display Research is the compilation of manufacturers who provide ODM and EMS services to their clients – branded vendors. The ODM/EMS manufacturers are in the upstream of the industry supply chain, marked by the red tab in Figure 1. ODM/EMS manufacturers include Foxconn, Huaqin, Compal, Quanta, Compal, Wistron, and others. Their clients are branded or white-box vendors, such as Apple, Amazon, Lenovo, Huawei, OPPO, and others.