Boosted by iPhone 6 sales, Apple ties with Samsung for top smartphone rank...is it cool
The iPhone 6 has sold so well that Apple tied with Samsung for the
top position in the smartphone market in the fourth quarter, closing the
gap with its South Korean competitor.
Both Apple and Samsung
shipped 74.5 million smartphones during the period, each claiming close
to 20 percent share of the market, research firm Strategy Analytics said
Wednesday.
It’s a big change from a year ago, when Apple’s iPhone
5s only helped the company gain a 17.6 percent share of the market, as
opposed to Samsung’s near 30 percent share.
The data from Strategy Analytics comes a few days after Apple reported huge profits of US$18 billion made in last year’s fourth quarter, from record sales of its new smartphone.
“Demand for iPhone has been staggering, shattering our high expectation,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in an earnings call.
He added that the smaller iPhone 6 was the better selling of the two models, but that some markets preferred
the bigger iPhone 6 Plus. Although the U.S. still remains the company’s
largest market, China was another major contributor to the phone’s
sales in the quarter, with sales in the market up by over 100 percent
year over year.
Samsung isn’t faring as well in the smartphone
market. It is losing market share at the high-end to the iPhone 6, and
at the mid-tier and low-end range to products from Chinese vendors
Huawei and Xiaomi.
“Samsung may soon have to consider taking over
rivals, such as Blackberry, in order to revitalize growth this year,”
Strategy Analytics said in a statement. But for the whole year 2014,
Samsung still remained the top smartphone vendor, with a 24.7 percent
share, followed by Apple, which had a 15 percent share.
Trailing
far behind the two players is third place Lenovo, which acquired
Motorola Mobility from Google last year. By buying the U.S. handset
maker, Lenovo’s market share in the fourth quarter reached 6.5 percent.
Huawei was in fourth place during the quarter, with a 6.3 percent share.
Overall, the world’s smartphone market grew 31 percent during the period, with shipments reaching a record 380.1 million units.
The iPhone 6 has sold so well that Apple tied with Samsung for the
top position in the smartphone market in the fourth quarter, closing the
gap with its South Korean competitor.
Both Apple and Samsung
shipped 74.5 million smartphones during the period, each claiming close
to 20 percent share of the market, research firm Strategy Analytics said
Wednesday.
It’s a big change from a year ago, when Apple’s iPhone
5s only helped the company gain a 17.6 percent share of the market, as
opposed to Samsung’s near 30 percent share.
The data from Strategy Analytics comes a few days after Apple reported huge profits of US$18 billion made in last year’s fourth quarter, from record sales of its new smartphone.
“Demand for iPhone has been staggering, shattering our high expectation,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in an earnings call.
He added that the smaller iPhone 6 was the better selling of the two models, but that some markets preferred
the bigger iPhone 6 Plus. Although the U.S. still remains the company’s
largest market, China was another major contributor to the phone’s
sales in the quarter, with sales in the market up by over 100 percent
year over year.
Samsung isn’t faring as well in the smartphone
market. It is losing market share at the high-end to the iPhone 6, and
at the mid-tier and low-end range to products from Chinese vendors
Huawei and Xiaomi.
“Samsung may soon have to consider taking over
rivals, such as Blackberry, in order to revitalize growth this year,”
Strategy Analytics said in a statement. But for the whole year 2014,
Samsung still remained the top smartphone vendor, with a 24.7 percent
share, followed by Apple, which had a 15 percent share.
Trailing
far behind the two players is third place Lenovo, which acquired
Motorola Mobility from Google last year. By buying the U.S. handset
maker, Lenovo’s market share in the fourth quarter reached 6.5 percent.
Huawei was in fourth place during the quarter, with a 6.3 percent share.
Overall, the world’s smartphone market grew 31 percent during the period, with shipments reaching a record 380.1 million units.
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