HMD Global has made a significant increase in the number of smartphones shipped

The 3Q 2018 figures have been released by research firm Counterpoint, and Huawei remains strong in the number 2 spot while Xiaomi is closing the gap between Apple.

While the growth in China has declined, Chinese brands—particularly Huawei and Xiaomi—have focused their growth towards the rest of the world. Expansion to other regions such as the Asia Pacific and Europe helped these Chinese brands maintain their growth, even if there is a decline in global smartphone shipments for the third consecutive quarter.

“The lack of meaningful innovation and improvement in smartphone build quality is leading to lengthening replacement cycles,” the report said.

As for global smartphone shipments, both Huawei and Xiaomi experienced significant year-to-year growths of 33% and 25% respectively, while Samsung experienced a negative growth at -13%.

While HMD Global is still a minority, they have the biggest year-to-year growth at 71%. Their rise is credited with the resurrection of the Nokia brand, along with compelling Android One offerings like the Nokia 7 Plus.

Among the factors to the growth of Chinese brands include competitive offerings in the low to mid-tier segments, along with the carving of the “affordable premium” segment led by the likes of Honor Play and Pocophone F1.

You can read more about Counterpoint’s report here.