While the 5G smartphone market is in its infancy, Samsung has been the most proactive vendor and accounted for a quarter of shipments in Q3 as a consequence.

Research firm HIS Markit reckons a total of 4.3 million 5G smartphones were shipped in the third quarter of this year and 3.2 million of those were Samsung ones. This was more than double Samsung’s Q2 total of 1.5 million units, when it accounted for 83% of all shipments. Surprisingly the only other s% smartphone vendors of significance right now are LG and Vivo.

“Samsung has come out of the gate running in the initial stage of the 5G smartphone business,” said Gerrit Schneemann of IHS Markit Technology.  “The company successfully capitalized on its home-field advantage in the fast-developing South Korean market to rapidly ramp up shipments. Samsung also has moved quickly to fill out its 5G smartphone line, giving it the largest portfolio of any brand.

“5G devices enable smartphone OEMs, carriers and service providers to offer new handsets with a feature set that is not backwards compatible as existing 4G devices will not be able to connect to 5G networks. Here lies an opportunity for the entire ecosystem to reverse user behaviour, from increasing device lifecycles to delivering an upgraded mobile experience.”

The slow start from Huawei observed by HIS is at odds with the Strategy Analytics view of the 5G smartphone market. In its recent forecast SA gave Huawei a 30% share of the market going into 2020, for the two firms’ numbers to align Huawei is going to have to seriously raise its game in Q4 of this year.