Global demand for high-end smartphones is declining

Smartphone sales continued their decline in the second quarter, dropping 1.7% from a year earlier, with demand for high-end phones dropping the most.

Reproduced from Gartner; Chart: Axios Visuals

Why it matters: The data, from Gartner, suggests a tough environment as Apple, Google and Samsung all are set to introduce new high-end phones to the market. Samsung just launched its Galaxy Note 10, with Google set to introduce the Pixel 4 and Apple expected to debut a new crop of iPhones in the coming weeks.

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A total of 368 million smartphones were sold in the second quarter, down from 374 million, Gartner said. Demand for mid-range and low-end devices was stronger as device makers added more features once found only in premium models.

Samsung and Huawei gained share in the second quarter, while Apple lost share from a year ago.

"To try to boost smartphone replacements, we've seen manufacturers bringing premium features such as multilens front/back cameras, bezel-less displays and large batteries from their flagship smartphones into lower-priced models."

Gartner research director Anshul Gupta in a statement