Global smartphone shipments reportedly back on the rise, just

You can breathe easy folks, the shareholders of vast corporations like Samsung and Apple aren’t going to be living in the streets after all. Canalys reports that following the first-ever downturn in global smartphone shipments earlier this year that things are back on the up and up. Well, sort of.

Canalys reports that worldwide smartphone shipments tipped 330 million units in Q2, 2016, sufficient to put the global ticker back on the ascent. But, the gains were “modest”. Canalys rather depressingly notes that “a disappointing quarter a year ago led to favorable annual comparisons, while shipments were flat compared with Q1.” So it may be best to put the confetti and party poppers away for now.

Samsung led the charge globally with 80 million units shipped with Canalys crediting the success of the Galaxy S7, “de-emphasis on the low end of its portfolio” and bundled Gear VR for driving flagship sales. In second place, Apple pushed out just 40 million iPhones – its second quarterly decline in a row, despite posting better-than-expected (but still low) profits in Q2.

HUAWEI took the third spot globally, seeing record growth and shipments throughout China and EMEA and selling 31 million units altogether. However, even with a seemingly positive story like HUAWEI’s there’s still a dark cloud on the horizon.

“Despite this strong start, [Huawei] will need to continue breaking shipment records and improve its position in the US if it is to surpass its annual shipment target of 140 million units,” Canalys ominously reports.

Whichever way you cut it, the future looks flat at best for the global smartphone industry. With that in mind, we should probably celebrate the little wins when we can. So maybe fire off one party popper. But that is all.

Do you think smartphone sales will continue to decline? What would turn the trend around?

Related: App downloads declining in the U.S.