But it’s not just mobile phones that have become increasingly intertwined with our everyday lives. A plethora of accessories and devices, known as smartphone multipliers, have surged in popularity—this market is set to generate $459 billion in revenue by the end of 2020. Which brands are capitalizing on this lucrative market? Today’s graphic provides a snapshot of the leading tech brands currently dominating the personal tech space, based on the most recent global market share data on shipments and installs.
How the Brands Stack Up, by Personal Tech Device
Though far from exhaustive, we’ve selected a few popular devices to hone in on, providing key insights on some of the top players in the personal tech space as of 2020.
Smartphones
Smartphones are an essential part of the personal tech conversation—by 2025, there will be an estimated 5.8 billion smartphone users worldwide, or roughly 70% of the global population.
Currently, Huawei and Samsung hold the largest share of the global market, at 20% each. Chinese company Huawei’s dominance is concentrated in its home country, where it captures almost half of smartphone sales. Like Huawei, Samsung’s market dominance is amplified in its home country South Korea, where it makes up 67% of the market.
While Apple lags slightly behind Huawei and Samsung in global sales, the company rules in the U.S., where it captures 46% of market share.
Why isn’t Apple as successful in other parts of the world? A big factor is price. For instance, 90% of smartphones in India cost around $300, while iPhones start at $999.
Smartphone Operating Systems
Of course, smartphones are useless without an operating system (OS). Each smartphone OS essentially acts as your phone’s nervous system, running all applications and programs, as well as managing network and WiFi connectivity. When it comes to the OS market, Google-owned Android dominates by a landslide, making up 74% of global market share. This makes sense, considering that both the leading smartphone companies, Huawei and Samsung, use Android OS on a number of their devices. However, it’s important to note that newer Huawei phones won’t operate on Android. When the Chinese tech giant was blacklisted in the U.S., it was no longer able to license Android’s OS. As a result, Huawei launched its own HarmonyOS to fill the gap.
Smartphone Application Processors
If a smartphone’s OS acts like its nervous system, then the application processor (AP) functions like a brain. APs handle everything from image processing and graphics to powering your phone on and off. Qualcomm is currently the largest provider of application processors, capturing almost 30% of the global market share. While it currently holds the top spot, its market share has declined since 2019, largely due to a decrease in usage in Huawei products. After being banned in the U.S., Huawei shifted suppliers for this crucial part. Instead of buying from Qualcomm—an American company—it now relies on HiSilicon, which is based in China.
Wireless Headphones
The wireless headphone market is growing fast—in 2019, it was valued at $2.5 billion. Between 2020 to 2027, it’s set to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.3%. Apple currently dominates the wireless headphone space, making up over a third of global market share. The company is expected to sell 82 million units by the end of 2020. Despite this, it’s important to note that Apple’s dominance has decreased significantly in 2020 compared to 2019, when it captured over 50% of the global market. Apple’s decline is likely due to the emergence of cheaper alternatives from companies like Lypertek Tevi or 1More, which offer comparable products at about half the cost of Apple’s AirPods.
Smartwatches
Health and wellness have been top priorities among consumers recently, which has had a positive impact on the global smartwatch market—in the first half of 2020, it’s shown a 20% growth in revenue, compared to a year prior.
Like wireless headphones, Apple dominates the smartwatch market, in both volume and value. When looking at global shipments in Q2 2020, the company makes up 30% of the market share—however, in terms of revenue, Apple’s piece of the pie rises to 50%.
The Only Constant is Change
It’s clear that no matter who leads the list for each type of personal tech, these spots are never static—there’s always room for disruption. How long will Apple hold its top spot in the wireless headphone market? Will Qualcomm’s dominance of the AP market continue to shrink? Things are certain to change—the only question is, how? on But fast forward to the end of last week, and SVB was shuttered by regulators after a panic-induced bank run. So, how exactly did this happen? We dig in below.
Road to a Bank Run
SVB and its customers generally thrived during the low interest rate era, but as rates rose, SVB found itself more exposed to risk than a typical bank. Even so, at the end of 2022, the bank’s balance sheet showed no cause for alarm.
As well, the bank was viewed positively in a number of places. Most Wall Street analyst ratings were overwhelmingly positive on the bank’s stock, and Forbes had just added the bank to its Financial All-Stars list. Outward signs of trouble emerged on Wednesday, March 8th, when SVB surprised investors with news that the bank needed to raise more than $2 billion to shore up its balance sheet. The reaction from prominent venture capitalists was not positive, with Coatue Management, Union Square Ventures, and Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund moving to limit exposure to the 40-year-old bank. The influence of these firms is believed to have added fuel to the fire, and a bank run ensued. Also influencing decision making was the fact that SVB had the highest percentage of uninsured domestic deposits of all big banks. These totaled nearly $152 billion, or about 97% of all deposits. By the end of the day, customers had tried to withdraw $42 billion in deposits.
What Triggered the SVB Collapse?
While the collapse of SVB took place over the course of 44 hours, its roots trace back to the early pandemic years. In 2021, U.S. venture capital-backed companies raised a record $330 billion—double the amount seen in 2020. At the time, interest rates were at rock-bottom levels to help buoy the economy. Matt Levine sums up the situation well: “When interest rates are low everywhere, a dollar in 20 years is about as good as a dollar today, so a startup whose business model is “we will lose money for a decade building artificial intelligence, and then rake in lots of money in the far future” sounds pretty good. When interest rates are higher, a dollar today is better than a dollar tomorrow, so investors want cash flows. When interest rates were low for a long time, and suddenly become high, all the money that was rushing to your customers is suddenly cut off.” Source: Pitchbook Why is this important? During this time, SVB received billions of dollars from these venture-backed clients. In one year alone, their deposits increased 100%. They took these funds and invested them in longer-term bonds. As a result, this created a dangerous trap as the company expected rates would remain low. During this time, SVB invested in bonds at the top of the market. As interest rates rose higher and bond prices declined, SVB started taking major losses on their long-term bond holdings.
Losses Fueling a Liquidity Crunch
When SVB reported its fourth quarter results in early 2023, Moody’s Investor Service, a credit rating agency took notice. In early March, it said that SVB was at high risk for a downgrade due to its significant unrealized losses. In response, SVB looked to sell $2 billion of its investments at a loss to help boost liquidity for its struggling balance sheet. Soon, more hedge funds and venture investors realized SVB could be on thin ice. Depositors withdrew funds in droves, spurring a liquidity squeeze and prompting California regulators and the FDIC to step in and shut down the bank.
What Happens Now?
While much of SVB’s activity was focused on the tech sector, the bank’s shocking collapse has rattled a financial sector that is already on edge.
The four biggest U.S. banks lost a combined $52 billion the day before the SVB collapse. On Friday, other banking stocks saw double-digit drops, including Signature Bank (-23%), First Republic (-15%), and Silvergate Capital (-11%).
Source: Morningstar Direct. *Represents March 9 data, trading halted on March 10.
When the dust settles, it’s hard to predict the ripple effects that will emerge from this dramatic event. For investors, the Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen announced confidence in the banking system remaining resilient, noting that regulators have the proper tools in response to the issue.
But others have seen trouble brewing as far back as 2020 (or earlier) when commercial banking assets were skyrocketing and banks were buying bonds when rates were low.
