Apple Tops Samsung to Become Leader of the Smartphone Market

According to this week's new Gartner report, Apple (aapl) currently accounts for 17.9% of the smartphone market, but Samsung has a market share of 17.8%. According to the report, Apple sold 77 million iPhones in the fourth quarter, Samsung sold 76.8 million smartphones.

For Apple, this is a breakthrough event, and Apple has ranked third among smartphones for eight consecutive quarters.

In a statement, Mr. Anshul Gupta, Research Director of Gartner, said:

Gupta argues that Apple is benefiting from the "demand demand" of Samsung mobile phones in several regions, including North America and Western Europe, in addition to the strong sales of its iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus models It continues.

Gupta said that Samsung's mobile phone sales began to decline in the third quarter of 2016 and expanded only when Samsung ceased selling Galaxy Note 7 mobile phones in the fourth quarter.

Samsung needed to remove that Galaxy Note 7 smartphone from the market, as some of the batteries in the device could explode. According to a survey conducted by Counterpoint Research in January, the collapse of smart phones means that Samsung was unable to sell the high-profile Galaxy Note 7 during the holiday season, which greatly damages high-tech giants It was.

According to Gartner, the number of mobile phones sold by Chinese smartphone manufacturers, Huawei, Oppo, BBK, Gionee in the fourth quarter exceeded the previous quarter. These companies usually sell cheap, low-function mobile phones that compete with Samsung's low-end mobile phones.

Especially, Huawei is a big threat to Samsung. China's leading technology is now the third largest smartphone manufacturer with a market share of 5%, its latest high-end mobile phone, Mate 9 attracts some of Samsung's customers.

"Huawei launched Mate 9 in the quarter - within a month since Samsung abolished Galaxy Note 7, it is a good time to position it as a substitute," Gupta says .

Since 2009, Apple has become the leader among the top five smartphone vendors in the world. Due to the decline of Nokia and RIM, market leaders like Apple and Samsung once occupied the market position. Samsung led the launch and since 2012, Korean electronics companies have shipped more than 317.3 million smartphones in 2017. 30% market share Since 2012, iPhone worldwide sales have expanded from 170 million units in 2014 to 216 million iPhones in 2017.

In August 2017, Kantar Worldpanel announced that Samsung became the top retailer of smartphones in the United States. According to Kantar, Apple has expanded the market share of smartphones from approximately 29% to 34%. But Samsung also gained share, accounting for 36% of the market. However, other companies, including comScore, think that Apple is still the largest company. According to critics, Steve Jobs is not responsible, Apple has lost its innovative advantage in recent years and is using that brand to increase sales. That Apple Watch did not follow the enthusiasm and enthusiasm of the iPhone at the first launch. (See also: the story behind Apple 's success.

China is currently the world's largest smartphone market, a rapidly growing market in India and Brazil where local smartphone makers in emerging markets could pose a threat to market leaders Samsung and Apple's low-priced smartphone there is. Recently based on Xiaomi Company based in Beijing, the company designed mobile phones for high end specifications and sold at medium price. Xiaomi's smartphone is still not as good as iPhone or Galaxy in terms of quality, but the company beat them at price. This is an important factor for many Chinese consumers. In addition, other smartphone manufacturers such as China's Huawei, ZTE, Lenovo, Indian Micromax, Karbonn, etc. provide these features to smartphones at affordable prices.