Worldwide Smartphone Sales Grew 3.9% in 1Q16 as Apple's Market Share Dropped to 14.8% [Gartner]

Worldwide smartphone sales grew 3.9% in the first quarter of 2016 but Apple's market share dropped to 14.8%, according to the latest Gartner report.

Demand for low cost smartphones drove global sales of smartphones to 349 million units which was about 78% of total mobile phone sales.

"In a slowing smartphone market where large vendors are experiencing growth saturation, emerging brands are disrupting existing brands' long-standing business models to increase their share," said Anshul Gupta, research director at Gartner. "With such changing smartphone market dynamics, Chinese brands are emerging as the new top global brands. Two Chinese brands ranked within the top five worldwide smartphone vendors in the first quarter of 2015, and represented 11 percent of the market. In the first quarter of 2016, there were three Chinese brands – Huawei, Oppo and Xiaomi – and they achieved 17 percent of the market."


Samsung extended its lead over Apple in the quarter with 23% market share, according to the report.

"Samsung's Galaxy S7 series phones and renewed portfolio positioned it as a strong competitor in the smartphone market, and more so in the emerging markets where it has been facing fierce competition from local manufacturers," said Mr. Gupta.

Meanwhile Apple experienced its first double digit decline year over year, with iPhone sales down 14%. However, the company's "upgrade program" did help it drive sales in the United States and to improve performance in emerging markets, Apple is looking for ways to resell second hand iPhones.

In terms of operating system share, Android gained ground on iOS and Windows to reach 84% share.


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