Apple closes in on struggling Samsung in Western Europe smartphone unit share

“Once the undisputed king of smartphones [in terms of unit share, at least – MDN Ed.], Samsung saw its market share slide dramatically in China and Europe last year, according to new research,” Liam Tung reports for ZDNet. “It’s no secret that 2014 was a tough year for Samsung’s smartphone business, and as the company gears up to launch the Galaxy S6 in early March, figures from analysts IDC released this week show how far it has to go to reclaim its status as the world’s top smartphone maker.”

“Samsung is still the top vendor in Western Europe, though its lead over Apple has decreased in recent quarters,” Tung reports. “Samsung shipped 51 million smartphones in 2014, down from 58 million in 2013, while Apple’s shipments climbed from 26.9 million to 30.9 million. Samsung’s share of smartphone shipments slipped from 42.6 percent in 2013 to 35 percent in 2014, while Apple’s share grew slightly from 19.6 percent to 21.2 percent over the same period.”

Tung reports, “Growth in smartphone shipments to Europe came despite the market’s already high adoption of smartphones, which IDC attributed mostly to the recent release of Apple’s iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.”

Full article here.

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