NEWS
NEWS
NEWS
Samsung stages comeback as world’s largest smartphone maker
Research released Tuesday by Strategy Analytics shows that worldwide smartphone shipments increased 21 percent from a year ago to 345 million units shipped in the first quarter (Q1) of 2015, down from the 33 percent increase the firm saw a year ago. Samsung Electronics Co, Ltd., after losing the number one spot to Apple in the fourth quarter of 2014, overtook the iPhone maker in Q1 to reclaim its crown as the largest smartphone vendor by volume.
According to Linda Sui, director at Strategy Analytics, the slowdown in worldwide smartphone shipments is largely due to increasing penetration maturity in major markets of the U.S., Europe and China.
Samsung’s global performance stabilizes
Samsung shipped 83.2 million smartphones worldwide and claimed a 24 percent market share in Q1 2015, down from a 31 percent share in the same period last year.
“Samsung continued to face challenges in Asia and elsewhere, but its global performance has stabilized sufficiently well this quarter to overtake Apple and recapture first position as the world’s largest smartphone vendor by volume,” said Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics.
By comparison, Apple shipped 61.2 million smartphones worldwide and claimed an 18 percent market share in Q1 2015, up from a 15 percent share in Q1 2014. The success of Apple’s new larger-screen iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus saw the company unseat Samsung as the largest smartphone maker in Q4 2014 when it sold 75.5 million iPhones.
The new iPhone’s remained popular in Q1 2015, and the company saw strong demand in Greater China over the Chinese New Year holiday period. Apple reported a 71 percent increase in sales in Greater China for Q1 2015 over the year-ago quarter.
Lenovo faces competitive pressure
Lenovo-Motorola claimed third position with a 5 percent share of worldwide smartphone shipments for Q1 2015, down from 7 percent a year ago.
“Lenovo is facing competitive pressure in the high-growth China LTE category, while Motorola is struggling to expand in its core market of North America and its growth market of India,” said Woody Oh, director at Strategy Analytics.
Claiming fourth position is Huawei with 17.3 million smartphones shipped during Q1 2015 for a 5 percent share of the worldwide smartphone market.
“Huawei is expanding rapidly online in China and through retailers across Africa, enabling it to become an emerging powerhouse in developing regions,” added Oh.
photo credit: Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge _ 18 via photopin (license)
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