This year, the global smartphone production volume is expected to grow by 4.5% to reach 1.46 billion units. The list is topped by South Korean brand Samsung, followed closely by Apple with Huawei in third place.
This is according to a report by market research firm TrendForce, which found this year's global smartphone production volumes will increase slightly compared to 2016's production volume, which grew 4.7% to reach 1.36 billion units in total.
According to the research, Samsung continued to top the annual global ranking despite the discontinuation of Galaxy Note 7, suffering a marginal decline of 3.3% compared with the 2015 figure.
TrendForce points out that last year, Samsung saw declines for the second consecutive year and Apple's performance fell short of expectations.
"Samsung had a difficult 2016 in the smartphone market and the company did not achieve its annual shipment target due to the fallout from the battery defect in Galaxy Note 7.
"Nonetheless, the brand was still the leader in the annual global ranking. TrendForce anticipates that Samsung's smartphone business will keep struggling this year as well and will likely post another drop in the annual production volume," reveals the report.
Samsung's global market share also contracted steadily, from 28% in 2014 to 25% in 2015 and then to 23% by the end of 2016, Trendforce notes. Much of the market share loss was attributed to the stiff competition from Chinese brands across all market segments.
Samsung forecasts surge in fourth-quarter profit
According to Reuters, Samsung Electronics' fourth-quarter profit likely leapt 50% from a year earlier to its highest level in more than three years, beating expectations on strong chip sales and a smartphone rebound.
The upbeat outlook comes despite a slight fall in revenue and the anticipated $2.1 billion profit hit from the withdrawal of the fire-prone Galaxy Note 7 premium smartphone in October.
"Samsung posted solid earnings only with sales of older smartphone models like the S7 after the Note 7's discontinuation," said Kim Sung-soo, a fund manager at LS Asset Management.
"This makes me have hopes for the (Galaxy) S8. Should they fare well, I expect Samsung to report record earnings this year."
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