The Huawei Mate 30 Pro and iPhone 11 will launch in stormy waters: Flagships are sinking fast

Sales of smartphones are plummeting for the seventh quarter in a row despite the launch of multiple new premium handsets, like the Galaxy Note 10, according to fresh research from IHS.

IHS revealed the trend in a post earlier this week. The report suggests smartphone shipments during Q2 this year fell by roughly 4% to 331.2 million.

IHS research and analysis director for smartphones Jusy Hong indicated the trend will likely continue in the next quarter and that Huawei and Apple could potentially be hit fairly hard.

For Huawei this due to the ongoing US executive order targeting it. The order went out in May and forced numerous tech companies, including Google, to diminish or sever ties with it.

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This led to Huawei losing its Android license, making it unclear if future phones from it will be able to run the OS or access critical services, such as the Play Store. The report show suggests that, while Huawei survived the ban this quarter, it will impact it heavily in the near future.

“In terms of smartphones, Huawei has been able to weather the storm so far. Following a strong first-quarter performance, Huawei was one of the few smartphone makers to buck the overall negative trend in the market in the second quarter,” said Hong

“Huawei was able to replace falling international shipments with increased sales in China. However, the full effects of the ban likely will be felt by Huawei’s international business in the third quarter of this year.”

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Apple was hit particularly badly during Q2 with IHS suggest iPhone shipments dropped by 14.6% to 35.3 million units. The research suggested this is mainly due to iPhones’ high price.

“Apple continues to be more aggressive with its promotional activities, but still faces two key challenges: super-premium pricing for its latest models and insufficient price elasticity in its older models to drive significant additional shipments of two-to-three-year-old devices,” read the report.

The news comes just before the rumoured release of the Huawei Mate 30 phablet and Apple iPhone 11. The Mate 30 is expected to be Huawei’s answer to the Galaxy Note 10, which launched late last night. The iPhone 11 is expected to be unveiled in September and will be the next flagship smartphone from Apple. Both phones are expected to carry premium £1000 price tags.