Global smartphone shipments up 5.9% in third quarter 2017
According to market analyst Canalys, global shipments of smartphones, an important sector for the use of metal injection moulded parts such as connectors, reached 375.9 million units in the third quarter of 2017, an increase of 5.9% on the same period in 2016.
Samsung shipped 82.8 million smartphones in the quarter, up 8.2% on the previous year, thanks to growth in its J-series. Apple shipped 46.7 million smartphones in the third quarter, with the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus accounting for 11.8 million units.
Shipments of older devices, such as the iPhone 6s and SE, also saw increases in the quarter, and the iPhone 7 remained the world’s best-selling smartphone after its price cut in September, shipping 13 million units.
Huawei ranked third with shipments totalling 39.1 million units in the quarter, up 17% from the previous year. Oppo took fourth position, with its shipments growing by 7.4% to 30 million, while Xiaomi Technology saw shipments up 86.9% to 28 million.
Oppo took fourth and fifth place, with its A57 and R11 shipping 7.8 million and 7.2 million units respectively, reported Canalys. Apple, Google, Huawei and others have all introduced new smartphones in the period with 18:9 displays and thin bezels.
According to recent research, Apple remains the biggest user of metal injection moulded parts in smartphones, with up to seven parts per phone, whilst Huawei and Oppo each use up to five MIM parts per phone and Xiaomi Technology up to four.
