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4G Smartphones Dominate Mexico’s Q2 2023 Bestsellers List

Samsung dominated with five models on the list.
Apple’s iPhone 11 was the third best-selling model in Mexico in Q2 2023.
60% of the models in the top 10 list were priced below $150.
Samsung’s Galaxy A34, Galaxy A54 5G were the only two 5G models on the top 10 list.

Mexico is the second most important smartphone market in Latin America. The country has the second-highest population in the region and hosts an extremely competitive ecosystem. Mexico’s geographical size and lack of import barriers make it an extremely attractive smartphone market.

The top-selling models accounted for 35% of Mexico’s total smartphone market in Q2 2023. The top 10 list almost appears like Samsung’s performance for the quarter as the brand dominated the top-selling chart in Mexico in Q2 2023. Five of the 10 best-selling models were from Samsung. According to Counterpoint’s Market Pulse Report, Samsung’s share in Q2 2023 was slightly more than 30%.

OPPO and Motorola both had two models in the Q2 2023 top-selling list. Motorola, which has always been a strong player in the Mexican market, launched a few new models during the quarter that helped the brand increase its market share. OPPO, a relatively new entrant in the LATAM market, managed to retain its third position in market share with two of its models in the top-selling list.

Source: Counterpoint Research Market Pulse, Q2 2023

60% of the models in the top 10 list were priced below $150. This price band accounts for 52% of the overall smartphone market in Mexico. However, premiumization is infiltrating the Mexican market, and the number of models in the >$150 band is increasing in the top-selling list. This trend is accelerating slowly but will surely lead to a higher overall smartphone ASP.

Apple’s four-year-old iPhone 11 has been part of the Mexican bestseller list for a few quarters now. It was the third best-selling model in the Mexican market in Q2 2023. The iPhone 11, which is a 4G model, was the most expensive model on the list. The massive sales of this model reflect the strength of Apple’s branding.

The 4G version of OPPO’s Reno 7 was another model in the bestsellers list priced more than $150. This is quite an achievement for the brand, which arrived in the region just three years ago. OPPO is still building its branding in the Mexican market. The Reno 7 has been in the Mexican top-selling chart since December 2022.

It is noteworthy that only two models in the chart are 5G phones – the Samsung Galaxy A34 and the Samsung Galaxy A54 5G. The latter one is also the most expensive Samsung model in the top-selling list. Meanwhile, Telcel has been pushing its subscriber base to replace their phone with a 5G one. Mexican consumers are still not ready for 5G technology. They would rather get more specs than access the technology.

Mexico Smartphone Shipments Plunge 21% YoY in Q4 2022

Samsung remained the market leader with a 27.1% share, followed closely by Motorola with 22.6%.
OPPO took the third spot in the Mexican smartphone market for the first time.
5G smartphones captured a 21% share of the market in Q4 2022.

Buenos Aires, San Diego, New Delhi, Hong Kong, Seoul, London, Beijing – March 28, 2023

Going through one of its toughest years, Mexico’s smartphone market saw its shipments fall 21% YoY in Q4 2022, according to the latest data from Counterpoint Research’s Market Monitor service. The total addressable market (TAM) too decreased by 7% YoY.

Commenting on the market dynamics, Principal Analyst Tina Lu said, “Mexico is the second biggest smartphone market in the Latin American region. With its low import taxes and no entry barriers, Mexico is also the favorite market for many OEMs to launch their Latin America operations. But it still has its caveats, like the operators that dominate the channel, especially Telcel.”

Lu added, “High inflation combined with political turmoil has led consumers to delay their smartphone purchases. On the other hand, many sales channels were still carrying high inventory in Q4. All this led to a sudden drop in shipments. The market is not expected to return to growth in H1 2023 due to continued economic turbulence and H1 2022 shipments being high. It is more likely to remain flat and grow 1-2% in the best case.”

Commenting on the performance of OEMs in the market, Vice President of Research Peter Richardson said, “The shipment drop has also led to increasing brand concentration. In Q4 2021, the top five players represented 78.7% of the total shipments, while in Q4 2022, the top five, with slightly different players, represented 84.2% of the total shipments. Bigger players with stronger brand recognition managed to keep shipping, while the smaller brands felt the impact of a falling market more strongly.”

Top Smartphone OEMs’ Market Share in Mexico, Q4 2022 vs Q4 2021

Source: Counterpoint Research Q4 2022 Market Monitor

Market Summary

Most OEMs’ volume decreased YoY but increased in share as the overall market declined.
Samsung’s volume decreased YoY but increased in share, maintaining the brand’s top position in the market. Samsung’s share increased thanks to its larger portfolio and volume in the entry-level price segment.
Motorola, which has led the rankings from time to time, finished second as its shipments contracted following efforts to decrease inventory.
OPPO, which was relaunched in Mexico less than three years ago, was the only brand to manage a marginal YoY growth in shipments. However, OPPO’s success in the country is very dependent on Telcel. It is slowly opening to other carriers.
Apple managed to sustain its shipments YoY. Keeping the iPhone 11 alive in the region has driven its volume and share.
ZTE’s volume dropped significantly, impacted by increased competition from leading brands.
Xiaomi’s high inventory that it had been carrying since Q2 2022 pushed it out of the top five in Q4 2022.

Background

Counterpoint Technology Market Research is a global research firm specializing in products in the technology, media and telecom (TMT) industry. It services major technology and financial firms with a mix of monthly reports, customized projects and detailed analyses of the mobile and technology markets. Its key analysts are seasoned experts in the high-tech industry.

Analyst Contacts:

Tina Lu

Andres Silva

Peter Richardson

Follow Counterpoint Research
press@counterpointresearch.com

Mexico Feature Phone Sales Beat Overall Market Trend

Mexico’s mobile handset market, the second biggest in Latin America, reported a 14% YoY sales decline in Q3 2022. But the country’s feature phone sales volume more than doubled YoY in Q2 and Q3, recovering to pre-COVID levels. This rise in feature phone sales can be attributed to the re-entry of i-mobile and Nokia into the market with new devices at attractive price points. BLU, Alcatel, Senwa and Zuum are the leading feature phone players in the Mexican market and together account for more than 45% share.

Source: Mexico Model Sales Tracker, Q3 2022

In Q3 2022, Alcatel and BLU were the biggest losers YoY. Surprisingly, Alcatel reduced its portfolio to only one model –1066. BLU’s only-open-channel strategy ended up hitting its sales. Nokia managed to capture the space thus created with its 106 and 105 2021 models in the <491 Mexican pesos ($25) retail price band.

Senwa saw a mixed performance in Q3 2022. Its Klick series softened the impact of competition in the <491 Mexican pesos retail price band, driven by its performance in the operator channel. On the other hand, devices from the >491 Mexican pesos band were not able to sell as expected. The customer perception of Senwa feature phones being low-priced is affecting these devices on the demand side.

Local king Zuum was affected by model cannibalization. Newest models like the Brix R II and Fun R series continued with strong sales momentum. But the Brix series suffered the most, leading to the brand seeing an overall YoY decline. The latest models show just a 196 Mexican pesos ($10) retail price increase over the previous versions.

The “Others” category saw a strong performance in Q3 2022 due to Nokia, Doppio and Bmobile’s aggressive sell-in volume during the quarter, taking advantage of lower import costs due to a depreciating currency.

Competitiveness is the main driver for this feature phone market which is flat compared to 2019 but has managed to resist the weakness in the country’s overall handset market. There are market trends like smartphone bundles and financing plans that indicate a bleak future for feature phones in Mexico.

Mexico Smartphone Market Surges in Q3 2021 Amid Component Shortages

Mexico’s smartphone market saw 13.3% YoY and 14.2% QoQ growth in Q3 2021.
Motorola led the market with a 23.9% share.

Buenos Aires, New Delhi, Hong Kong, Seoul, London, Beijing, San Diego – December 23, 2021

Mexico’s smartphone market saw impressive growth during Q3 2021 even as many LATAM markets were heavily impacted by the ongoing component shortages. The country’s smartphone shipments grew 13.3% YoY and 14.2% QoQ in Q3 2021. The same quarter last year had seen COVID-19 affecting the region’s smartphone market.

Commenting on the market dynamics, Principal Analyst Tina Lu said, “Mexico’s market is the second largest in Latin America, and its TAM (total addressable market) is getting closer to Brazil. Although the Mexican population is only around 60% of that of Brazil, its TAM is close to 80% compared to Brazil. Mexico is an operator-driven market but still is one of the most competitive.”

Lu added, “Mexico is often the first market chosen by brands to enter LATAM. This helps the country’s consumers to access a variety of brands and models. This also results in a low-concentration market that allows many brands to have similar shares. Motorola is the current leader in this competitive market. The brand had an extraordinary performance for most of 2021. Mexico is the only market in which Motorola is the leader.”

Source: Counterpoint Research Market Monitor, Q3 2021 | Note: Xiaomi includes POCO

Market Summary

Motorola has a big portfolio of affordable smartphones (<$150 price range). It also benefits from having enough supplies to stay as the Mexican market leader. Besides, Motorola has strong branding and is one of the strongest in the Mexican open channel.
Samsung, which was the leading brand in 2020, experienced its biggest YoY share and volume drop in Q3 2021 due to production disruption at its Vietnam factories and stiff competition from new entrants.
OPPO saw the biggest YoY growth. Its market share grew more than five times. OPPO is the most successful among the Chinese brands that entered the region last year. OPPO was in Mexico for a short period in 2017 and is now benefitting from the brand-building undertaken then.
ZTE almost doubled its share YoY. It benefited partly from Huawei’s woes. ZTE is the most operator channel-driven OEM in the region.
Xiaomi more than doubled its share YoY but it was still fifth in the market. Its growth has not been as flashy as in other markets. Xiaomi needs to work more on brand-building.
Huawei was once the leader of the Mexican market but is now in the ninth position. The brand’s woes have translated into the successful entry of other Chinese brands in the region.

Background

Counterpoint Technology Market Research is a global research firm specializing in products in the TMT (technology, media and telecom) industry. It services major technology and financial firms with a mix of monthly reports, customized projects and detailed analyses of the mobile and technology markets. Its key analysts are seasoned experts in the high-tech industry.

Analyst Contacts:

Tina Lu

Andres Silva

Peter Richardson

Follow Counterpoint Research
press(at)counterpointresearch.com

LATAM Smartphone Shipments up 22.1% YoY in Q1 2021; Samsung Leads With 42% Share

Boston, Toronto, London, New Delhi, Hong Kong, Beijing, Taipei, Seoul – June 10, 2021

LATAM smartphone shipments surged by 22.1% YoY in Q1 2021 but decreased by 4.8% QoQ due to seasonality, according to the latest Market Monitor report from Counterpoint Research. The competition fuelled by Samsung and Motorola launching refreshed models and new Chinese OEMs entering the region drove the market growth.

Commenting on the market dynamics, Principal Analyst Tina Lu said, “In Q1 2021, the region’s smartphone market saw an extraordinary 22.1% growth, as last year it was impacted by a shortage of products coming from China, and COVID-19 lockdowns by the end of the quarter. This year, it still faced some product shortages due to inadequate component supplies, especially the chipset. But this impacted mainly the ‘Local Kings’ and smaller brands, as their negotiating power is lower.”

Lu added, “The first quarter of the year is usually a slow one, as most of the Southern Hemisphere is on summer holidays. But fierce competition fuelled by new Chinese OEMs entering the region and Samsung launching new models in the A-series while increasing advertising to announce the S-series, drove the market growth. This shows that the smartphone market is resilient in the face of tough conditions due to the pandemic. Brazil ranks third globally in terms of most number of COVID-19 cases while Mexico ranks fourth among countries with the highest number of COVID-19 deaths.”

Smartphone Shipment Market Share, Q1 2021

Source: Counterpoint Research Market Monitor, Q1 2021

Commenting on the regional performance, Research Analyst Parv Sharma said, “All major LATAM countries except Chile saw double-digit growth. Argentina, Peru and Brazil drove the region’s overall growth. The economic recession due to the pandemic failed to diminish the volume of smartphones sold in the region, partly because of the smartphone becoming an essential gadget and partly due to the OEMs driving the market. However, the pandemic did impact the consumer’s smartphone purchase budget, which the OEMs were fast to react to and increase their entry-level models.”

Smartphone Shipment Growth by Country, Q1 2021 vs Q1 2020

Source: Counterpoint Research Market Monitor, Q1 2021

Market summary

Samsung remained the region’s leading brand. It was aggressive on the sell-in front. Four out of ten smartphones sold in the LATAM market were from this OEM.
Samsung’s volume increased QoQ despite the seasonality factor. It started 2021 by renewing part of its A-series portfolio. It also advertised heavily during the launch of new flagship models — Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21 Plus and Galaxy S21 Ultra — in February. This drove higher sales for all the other lines from this brand.
Motorola volume increased more than 88% YoY. This growth came from the ground gained from Huawei and due to supply constraints faced by the OEM last year following the COVID-19 outbreak in China.
Motorola remained a solid second player in the region, although closely challenged by Xiaomi and even OPPO in Mexico.
Xiaomi continued its YoY growth. However, the growth reached a plateau during the quarter as Xiaomi has no local manufacturing in Brazil. At the same time, it is still building its brand in the rest of LATAM.
Xiaomi’s growth has been slightly challenged by new Chinese entrants in some countries, such as Colombia, Chile and Mexico.
Apple continues to grow. It leads the introduction of 5G handsets in the region with the iPhone 12 model. However, the iPhone 11 still takes a large portion of its volume.
ZTE doubled its volume and increased its share YoY. The brand expanded its participation in the LATAM market by entering the open channel. It is also growing its footprint in Peru and Colombia.
LG also managed to increase its volume and share, which is a breakthrough for the OEM that has been experiencing YoY declines for almost two years. The announcement that it plans to exit the mobile device market did not impact its performance during Q1 2021.
‘Others’ saw a dramatic decrease as ‘Local Kings’ are now playing mostly in the 3G smartphone space. This group was most impacted by the chipset shortage.

The comprehensive and in-depth Q1 2021 Market Monitor is available for subscribing clients. Feel free to contact us at press@counterpointresearch.com for further questions regarding our in-depth research and insights, or for press enquiries.

Background:

Analyst Contacts:

Tina Lu

+54 91160411221
tina@counterpointresearch.com

Parv Sharma

+91 974-259-6030

Parv@counterpointresearch.com

Peter Richardson

+44 7917231934
Peter@counterpointresearch.com

Follow Counterpoint Research
press@counterpointresearch.com

LATAM Individual Markets Overview 2019

In 2019, the Latin America region represented only 10% of the global smartphone market. Nevertheless, it includes Brazil and Mexico, which are both among the top ten biggest markets worldwide. These two countries now have similar smartphone usage penetration, but they have quite different dynamics. Open distribution channels account for 80% of Brazil’s market. While in Mexico, 80% of the market is operator-driven.

LATAM countries have various levels smartphone penetration. Chile and Argentina have the highest, while Peru and Paraguay have the lowest. The varying maturity levels and local regulations largely dictate the competitive landscape:

Brazil and Argentina both require local manufacturing/assembling. It is a complicated process to set up local manufacturing, so only a few brands manage to do so, which makes these markets highly concentrated brand wise the same three brands represent more than 80% of the market. In both countries, Samsung has more than 40% share. Motorola is a distant follower and LG continues as #3. LG has been losing share in many other markets, but it enjoys a competitive advantage of local manufacturing in these countries.
Mexico: Samsung leads the market, but Huawei is a close contender. So much so that during two months in 2019, it overtook Samsung, making Mexico Huawei’s biggest market in the region. The battle for supremacy accelerated the replacement rate and increased smartphone penetration. Motorola is a solid #3.
Peru: the top 3 brands represent only 65% of the market. It is one of the most brand diverse markets in LATAM. It also has high feature phone penetration. Samsung and Huawei lead the market, while Motorola is a distant third. Peru has one of the lowest smartphone usages in LATAM, mainly because of the low 4G LTE coverage.
Chile is the most mature market in the region. It has LATAM’s highest smartphone penetration, rate of replacement and ASP. It is still an operator driven market, so brands need to have operator approval to succeed. Although it is a small market, it is among Apple’s top 3 market in LATAM. Samsung leads the market. Huawei’s performance was impacted by the US trade ban.
Ecuador is the smallest market in this infographic, but with high growth potential. 3G smartphones are still relevant, partly because of the price of the smartphone, partly due to the limited coverage of the 4G network. Samsung and Huawei lead the market. Bmobile, a local brand, is a distant #3.
Colombia is the third biggest market in LATAM. Samsung is the absolute leader. Huawei was challenging Samsung leadership in the market during Q1 2019. However, the trade ban imposed by the US government highly impacted Huawei causing a loss of share to Samsung and Motorola.

Samsung was the absolute leader in all the major market in LATAM in 2019. Motorola was a distant number two that excelled in Argentina and Brazil. Huawei was a strong number three, but its performance was impacted during the second half of the year.

The infographic is a high-level overview of the data we track in our quarterly Market Monitor Service.

Rise of the Open Channel in LATAM

The sales channel landscape for the LATAM mobile devices market has been going through significant changes in the last few years. Just two years ago, nearly 70% of the quarterly mobile device sales in LATAM came from operators. Today, the open channel has a more even share (43%) of the market. And it is growing fast.

In a market where sales of mobile devices have grown at a CAGR of only 0.24% between 2016 and 2018, the open channel has grown at almost 8% CAGR. As a result, operators have been slowly pivoting towards being a service provider after years of being device driven business.

Exhibit 1: Open Channel Mobile Devices Market Share 2016Q1 vs. 2019Q1

Source: Counterpoint Market Monitor Q1 2019

At Counterpoint, we have been mapping the top three operators’ share in mobile device sales for more than three years. The findings reveal starkly different strategies of LATAM’s two biggest operators, America Movil, and Telefonica, resulting in very distinct outcomes and share of the mobile device market. America Movil, which operates under the brands Claro and Telcel, and Telefonica, which operates under the brands Movistar and Vivo, still account for 70% of the mobile handsets sold through the operator channel. Counterpoint’s latest research tracks the changing trends of the sales channel and OEMs for mobile devices in the LATAM region over the last few years in great detail. The comprehensive and in-depth report is available exclusively for clients here.

We believe the LATAM mobile devices market is heading towards an open channel ecosystem. Every other quarter, operators do regain some share. However, in peak season, the open channel claws back its lost share and even gains marginally. Over time, operators will continue to lose share. This forces OEMs to negotiate with the retail sector directly.

The open channel, which consists of big retail chains as well as small shops, in some instances, can be tougher to work with than an operator. However, the rise of the open channel has allowed more brands to enter the region. All the top five selling brands, that account for 78% share in LATAM, have a different approach to the operators and open channel when it comes to their channel strategy. Huawei is extremely strong within operator channels. Samsung, on the other hand, the leader of the market in LATAM, and its participation across different sales channels is very similar to that of the market.

This is why we believe that the increasing importance of the open channel is positive for OEMs. Although the operator channel was large, operators were often very selective about the models they stocked. For example, Claro (America Movil) Brazil would only range four brands. However, the same company in Mexico, under the brand name Telcel, would offer more than 22 brands. An increasing share of open channel sales removes such arbitrariness of distribution. But the open channel requires a more aggressive turnover than operators. We examine this and much more in our latest analysis, exclusively for clients, titled. ‘ LATAM Mobile Devices Sales Channel Analysis: The Rise of the Open Channel’.

Will Huawei’s Extraordinary Growth Story in LATAM Come to a Grinding Halt?

Huawei has been building momentum in LATAM with record volumes and a growth of 51% year-on-year (YoY) during 2018. Its growth came at a time when the market declined by 1%. And it isn’t as if Huawei was slowing down. In Q4 2018, its volume growth reached 130%, YoY. Astonishingly, this growth came despite Huawei not being present in around 37% of the LATAM smartphone market as it does not operate in Brazil and exited Argentina in Q3 2018.

By the end of 2018, Huawei was the leader of the market in Peru and a very solid number two in Chile and Colombia. In Colombia, Huawei became the second largest brand in 2018 and also the leading Chinese brand with 24% market share after including sales of its co-brand HONOR. HONOR entered Colombia in H2 2018, and quickly picked-up share. In Mexico, its biggest LATAM market, Huawei has been increasing volumes through a two for one mix between high and low-price band devices and recently challenged Samsung to be the number one brand in the country. Even in Peru, Huawei keeps challenging for the top spot.

Exhibit 1: Huawei LATAM Shipment Volume Share Evolution

Source: Counterpoint Research Market Monitor

Part of Huawei success in LATAM is due to its improving reputation for offering excellent quality products. Heavy spending on marketing; up to several millions of dollars yearly, in sponsorship, and both online and offline campaigns has successfully built the Huawei brand in the region.

Further, its sales team was big enough to help the brand get into all channels and carriers. Huawei even opened flagship repair stores in most of the capital cities of the biggest countries in LATAM. All these efforts were quite synchronized.

However, just as it seemed Huawei was about to reach a peak for its consumer business unit, the US government decided to impose the export ban. Under a business-as-usual scenario, Huawei’s diligent efforts to enter Brazi would likely have been successful and further boosted its presence in LATAM. But in the current geopolitical environment, entering Brazil looks increasingly unlikely. For the short-term, it will be difficult for Huawei to maintain momentum in LATAM. Counterpoint Research’s analyst team has measured the multiple impacts of the ban in LATAM and other regions, as well as other Huawei business units. This analysis is available to all subscribing clients.

Economic Instability Is Taking a Toll on the LATAM Smartphone Market

Chinese OEMs continues to gain traction in the region

New Delhi, Hong Kong, Seoul, London, Beijing, San Diego, Buenos Aires –

November 23^st, 2018

According to the latest research from Counterpoint’s Market Monitor service, the Latin American (LATAM) Smartphone market has declined by more than 7% YoY due to economic uncertainty in four out of the six major countries in LATAM. Colombia, Brazil and Mexico’s markets were affected by presidential elections. These elections brought uncertainty to the economy and hence altered consumer purchasing behavior.

Commenting on the Latin American market development, Counterpoint’s Senior Analyst, Tina Lu, highlighted, “The replacement rate of local consumers is noticeably slowing. The cost of purchasing a new smartphone is a major investment for many consumers and, in most cases, they pay for their devices in 18 or 24 monthly installments. There is, therefore, a strong desire to make the smartphone last longer than the installment payment period. This change in user behavior has also brought a new level of importance to after-sales services. This has knock-on benefits in driving more business to companies providing after-sales service and refurbished smartphones”.

Commenting on vendor performances, Parv Sharma, Research Associate, noted: “Following the overall market decline, the sale of all top-selling brands in volume terms apart from Huawei, have also decreased. Huawei has once again recorded strong growth of 37% YoY, and 10% sequentially. Huawei has been driving volume, in its biggest market, Mexico, with a two for one mix between high and low-price band devices. Huawei is gaining brand preference as its reputation for offering excellent quality products widens.”

Exhibit 1: Percentage LATAM Shipment Volume Share – 2018 Q3

Source: Counterpoint Research Market Monitor Q3 2018

Samsung remains the absolute leader in the LATAM market. However, it lost around 1% share.

Samsung’s unit volume decline came mostly from Argentina, Chile and Brazil. Argentina’s market contracted by more than 40% YoY.

Motorola managed to retain its share, despite its decision to gradually decrease the volume of its bestselling C-series models and in the face of stiff competition from other Chinese brands.

Motorola grew in markets which were traditionally a challenge for it, such as Colombia, where it managed to achieve more than 50% YoY growth by increasing its share with local operators.

Huawei has double-digit growth in most of the region’s markets in which it operates. The one exception was Argentina where its volume reduced by more than a quarter YoY due to the company’s decision to outsource sales and distribution – a process that is not yet finalized.

LG’s business has been the most impacted. LG remains in the top three brands in Brazil, the largest market in LATAM, but it was not enough to offset a sharp drop in most other markets in the region.

Mexico was the only country, in LATAM, to be included in the first round of the latest iPhone launches. In all the other countries, Apple launched its latest iPhone models between October and November.

Exhibit 2: Latin America Brands Origin Variation 2017 Q3 vs 2018 Q3

Source: Counterpoint Research Market Monitor Q3 2018

International brands still dominate the LATAM smartphone ecosystem, Samsung is the best-selling brand in this group.

Although some Chinese brands such Huawei and Xiaomi enjoyed strong performances, the Chinese brands’ group had only around 2% growth, offset by the decline of other Chinese brands such as Alcatel, Lenovo and ZTE.

Regional brands grew by 1% driven by the increasing numbers of local brands that managed to enter the distribution channel of most LATAM’s carriers.

Brazilian local brands such as Multilaser or Positivo also drove the growth of these regional brands.

Chinese brands are expected to grow in the LATAM region, but not massively until 2020 as two of the biggest LATAM markets, Brazil and Argentina will continue to effectively be closed to direct imports in 2019.

LATAM’s overall market will likely return to growth in 2019. Partly due to an easy comparison with a depressed 2018 and because many of the events that have caused the slowdown in 2018 will have passed.

The comprehensive and in-depth Q3 2018 Market Monitor is available for subscribing clients. Please feel free to contact us at press(at)counterpointresearch.com for further questions regarding our in-depth latest research, insights or press enquiries.

Analyst Contacts:

Tina Lu

+54 91160411221

tina@counterpointresearch.com

Parv Sharma

+91 974-259-6030

Parv@counterpointresearch.com

Peter Richardson

+44 791-723-1934

Peter@counterpointresearch.com

Follow Counterpoint Research

press(at)counterpointresearch.com

LATAM Smartphone Market Reached Highest Ever ASP in 2Q18

Growth during the quarter was led by OEMs’ aggressive sell-in.

New Delhi, Hong Kong, Seoul, London, Beijing, San Diego, Buenos Aires –August 21^st, 2018

According to the latest research from Counterpoint’s Market Monitor service, in Q2 2018 the LATAM smartphone shipments grew 2% YoY in volume and 8% in value. Chile and Mexico were the markets that led the growth, driven in part by Huawei and Motorola.

Commenting on the findings Senior Analyst, Tina Lu, said, “LATAM’s smartphone sell-in grew a marginal 2%, despite the economic volatility created by political turbulence. Motorola and Huawei led the volume growth with high double-digit growth, benefiting from the aggressive launch of new products in the mid-range (USD $100-$250) segment.”

Adding further, Tina said, “Consumers in Latin America are slowing down in their replacement rate but investing more money per purchase. Despite the multiple devaluations that most LATAM currencies have experienced during Q2 2018, the smartphone average selling price (ASP) reached USD187, around an 8% YoY increase. This was the region’s highest ASP ever. LATAM device prices are highly sensitive to currency fluctuations, as most of the countries in the region import devices, and those that require local manufacturing, still depend highly on sourcing parts internationally. Price band growth has been polarizing at both ends of the price spectrum.”

Exhibit 1: LATAM Smartphone Shipment Share by Brands

Source: Counterpoint Research: Quarterly Market Monitor Q2 2018

Commenting on the region’s brand evolution, Research Analyst, Parv Sharma, said, “Consumers in the LATAM region need to trust the brand before adopting it. So, this leads to quite a concentrated market with the top five brands, representing almost three-quarters of all the smartphones shipped. These brands have all invested a great deal of resources both in terms of money and management time, within the region, to earn local consumer trust. Huawei enjoyed a 43% YoY growth, the biggest surge among the top five brands. Its success is a result of the company consistently building brand awareness in the region. It has also increased its presence in America Movil. But the channel is quite stacked with Huawei inventory. Motorola also had double digit volume increase, but its volume growth was leveraged by the C series which took a toll on its ASP.”

Exhibit 2: LATAM ASP evolution: Q2 2017 vs Q2 2018

Source: Counterpoint Research: Quarterly Market Monitor Q2 2018

Market Summary:

Samsung captured more than 36% of the LATAM market. It was, once again, the absolute leader in the market, but it lost share YoY.
Despite the decline in share, Samsung had a 25% increase in ASP, thanks to increasing midrange sales.
Motorola reached 12.4% market share. The refreshed models in the E and G series have increased Motorola’s overall sell-in volumes. However, its Moto C is still the best-selling model and this success affected its ASP, driving it to decline 33% YoY.
Huawei reached 11.8% market share. It was third in the market, but just 0.8pp behind Motorola.
Huawei’s ASP increased 32% YoY. It is the brand with the highest growth amongst the top selling brands.
LG had the biggest YoY drop; a decline of more than 26%. It is the only brand in the top five chart that had flat YoY movement on ASP.
Apple remained almost flat with 4% market share, though it had more than 10% growth in ASP.
Apple’s ASP growth was driven by the launch of iPhone X which was offset by strong sales of iPhone 6 in the region.

The comprehensive and in-depth Q2 2018 Market Monitor is available for subscribing clients. Please feel free to contact us at press@counterpointresearch.com for further questions regarding our in-depth latest research, insights or press enquiries.

The Market Monitor research is based on sell-in (shipments) estimates based on vendor’s IR results, vendor polling triangulated with sell-through (sales), supply chain checks and secondary research.

Analyst Contacts:

Tina Lu
+54 91160411221
tina@counterpointresearch.com

Parv Sharma
+91 974-259-6030
parv@counterpointresearch.com

Peter Richardson
+44 791-723-1934
peter@counterpointresearch.com

Follow Counterpoint Research
press(at)counterpointresearch.com

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Insights Tag: Mexico

4G Smartphones Dominate Mexico’s Q2 2023 Bestsellers List

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New Delhi, Hong Kong, Seoul, London, Beijing, San Diego, Buenos Aires –

<img decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-12799 size-full" src="https://www.counterpointresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Q318-chart.jpg" alt="LATAM Shipment Volume Share – 2018 Q3" width="832" height="331" data-eio="l" /> Source: Counterpoint Research Market Monitor Q3 2018

Source: Counterpoint Research Market Monitor Q3 2018

Source: Counterpoint Research: Quarterly Market Monitor Q2 2018

<img decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-11453 size-full" src="https://www.counterpointresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/LATAM-Asp-evolution.png" alt="LATAM Smartphone ASP Growth by Key Brands" width="1291" height="532" data-eio="l" />

Source: Counterpoint Research: Quarterly Market Monitor Q2 2018

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Source: Counterpoint Research Market Monitor Q3 2018