Smartphone growth was dominated by Oppo and Huawei in 2016

You may think the smartphone market is declining. After all, smartphones aren’t as new or exciting as they once were. Most people already have a smartphone in their pocket. With the Note 7 fiasco and the iPhone 7 being kinda boring, it would be no surprise if sales were down. But that’s not the case at all.

According to research from IDC, shipments from Q1 2017 were higher than the same quarter last year. 4.3% higher to be exact. So what made the difference? Oppo, Vivo, and Huawei had big year-over-year increases. Samsung and Apple essentially stayed the same, but Chinese OEMs are growing quickly.

Those Chinese OEMs still have a long way to go before they can compete with Samsung and Apple, but if they continue to grow at this rate, it won’t take long. If any of the Chinese OEMs can make a splash in the US, the competition would get very interesting.

Do you own a device from one of these Chinese OEMs?