Prevalence of Samsung, Nokia, and Apple smartphones in Italy 2014-2016

In 2016, the three leading smartphone brands in Italy were Samsung, Apple, and Nokia. Samsung phones were the most popular: four in ten customers owned a Samsung device. However, Nokia had already started to lose popularity. In fact, the prevalence of Nokia phones decreased from 20 percent in 2014 to 12 percent in 2016. By 2018, Huawei had replaced Nokia as one of the top players in the Italian smartphone market.

Huawei in Italy– A love affair with Chinese smartphones?

Huawei’s spending on research and development increased massively between 2014 and 2018, nearly doubling between 2015 and 2018. Considerably cheaper than Apple iPhones, Huawei smartphones found a great customer base in Europe. In 2019, about one in four Italians owned one.

Huawei’s woes – Nokia’s fortune?

Nokia sales dropped to virtually zero in 2015, after Microsoft acquired it. However, the Finnish brand, since 2016 owned by HDM Global since 2016, was planning a comeback in the Italian market: in 2019 it launched its new Nokia 9 PureView. By contrast, Huawei's global sales were expected to drop worldwide, following the Trump administration's ban. With its commitment to 5G, Nokia looked determined to rise from its ashes.