Samsung in pole position as Huawei gains ground in NZ phone market

Four brands dominate 2016 phone sales in New Zealand. Chayse Gorton, IDC associate market analyst, says Samsung, Apple, Vodafone and Huawei make up 87 percent of the market. That’s almost nine out of every ten phones sold here.

Samsung remains New Zealand’s top phone brand by a clear margin. Its market share edged up in the second quarter from 41 percent  to 43 percent.

Gorton says: “Samsung’s S7 range continues to be well received by the public”. Galaxy S7 sales started in March. Which means the 29 percent quarter-on-quarter growth reflects a successful launch.

Apple is the only top four brand to see a quarter-on-quarter shipment decline. It seems customers are holding out for the iPhone 7 release which is due in September.

It’s normal for Apple phone sales to weaken ahead of a refresh, but perhaps not in the second quarter.

Vodafone leads at the low-end of the market. Its inexpensive phones tend to pack most of the functions found in more expensive models at a fraction of the price.

Gorton says Vodafone started shipping a new range during the quarter. This contributed to the shipment growth.

Huawei is the big winner. It moved level with Vodafone during the quarter and saw an impressive quarter-on-quarter growth.

Gorton says the new Huawei’s P9 range helped and the P9 lite did particularly well.

Huawei NZ CEO Jason Wu says: “The growth in New Zealand has been fantastic to see. I think that’s been driven by a combination of factors. We have a brilliant range of smartphones and have seen growth across the board.

“Perhaps the most exciting trend has been the increase in customers who choose the Huawei brand in the premium sector. Huawei’s value share has shown huge growth. With the launch of the P9 series, we are seeing massive interest in the brand. The P9 is a great showcase for Huawei’s innovation with its dual camera lens design, co-engineered with Leica.

“This is supported by an increase in our marketing efforts here as we hope to introduce more people to Huawei. We also focused on providing great service and delivering the best possible experience with offers like the Huawei Screen Promise.”