Gartner, Inc. said worldwide smartphone sales recorded the slowest growth rate since 2013 in the second quarter of 2015. Worldwide sales of smartphones to end users totaled 330 million units, an increase of 13.5 percent over the same period in 2014 (see Table 1).
“While demand for lower-cost 3G and 4G smartphones continued to drive growth in emerging markets, overall smartphone sales remained mixed region by region in the second quarter of 2015,” said Anshul Gupta, research director at Gartner. Emerging Asia/Pacific (excluding China), Eastern Europe and Middle East and Africa were the fastest-growing regions, driven by good performance from Chinese and local vendors. By contrast, smartphone sales in China fell for the first time year over year, recording a 4 percent decline.
“China is the biggest country for smartphone sales, representing 30 percent of total sales of smartphones in the second quarter of 2015. Its poor performance negatively affected the performance of the mobile phone market in the second quarter,” said Mr. Gupta. “China has reached saturation — its phone market is essentially driven by replacement, with fewer first-time buyers. Beyond the lower-end phone segment, the appeal of premium smartphones will be key for vendors to attract upgrades and to maintain or grow their market share in China.”
Despite the launch of new S6 models, Samsung’s premium phones continued to be challenged by Apple’s large-screen iPhones. Samsung lost 4.3 percentage points in market share and declined 5.3 percent in unit sales in the second quarter of 2015. Huawei recorded the highest sales growth rate of 46.3 percent, thanks to strong overseas sales and 4G smartphone sales in China. iPhone sales increased 36 percent, which helped Apple gain 2.4 percentage points in market share. Apple recorded strong iPhone replacements in both emerging and mature markets — and particularly in China. Total iPhone sales in China grew 68 percent to 11.9 million units.
Table 1: Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Vendor in 2Q15
(Thousands of Units)
Source: Gartner (August 2015). The results for Lenovo include sales of mobile phones by Lenovo and Motorola both in 2Q15 and 2Q14.
Apple’s double-digit growth in the high-end segment continued to negatively impact its rivals’ premium phone sales and profit margins. Many vendors had to realign their portfolios to remain competitive in the midrange and low-end smartphone segments. This realignment resulted in price wars and discounting to clear up inventory for new devices planned for the second half of 2015.
In the smartphone operating system market (see Table 2), Android’s global share was affected by the weak performance of China in the second quarter of 2015 and the strong performance in China of Apple, which has taken share from Android for the last three quarters. “Android saw its lowest year-over-year growth of 11 percent with share reaching 82.2 percent in the second quarter of 2015,” said Mr. Gupta. Microsoft continued to struggle to generate wider demand for Windows Phone devices — even at the lower end. “In light of Microsoft’s recent cuts in its mobile hardware business, we’ll await signs of its long-term commitment in the smartphone market.”
“The low barrier to entry into the Android segment will continue to encourage an array of new players, adding to further disruptions coming from Chinese manufacturing and innovative Internet players with new business models that are not reliant on hardware margins,” said Mr. Gupta.
Table 2: Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Operating System in 2Q15
(Thousands of Units)
Source: Gartner (August 2015)
Worldwide mobile phone sales to end users totaled 446 million units during the second quarter of 2015. The performance was flat (0.4 per cent) year over year (see Table 3). Vendors that are focused on the emerging markets, such as Huawei, ZTE, TCL Communication and Micromax, benefited from high demand in these markets, while global vendors such as Sony, Samsung and HTC struggled to achieve growth at the high end of the market.
Table 3: Worldwide Mobile Phone Sales to End Users by Vendor in 2Q15
(Thousands of Units)
Source: Gartner (August 2015). The results for Lenovo include sales of mobile phones by Lenovo and Motorola both in 2Q15 and 2Q14.
Additional information is available in the Gartner report “Market Share: Final PCs, Ultramobiles and Mobile Phones, All Countries, 2Q15 Update.”
Source: Gartner, Inc.
MacDailyNews Take: Again, market share is nice, profit share is better. Apple owns the quality customers. Fragmandroid can have the rest.
Apple’s iPhone owns 92% of smartphone industry’s profits – July 13, 2015
BTW, Great job there, DCW!
(Hey, Gartner, now that Beleaguered BlackBerry is smaller than your “Other” category, when do they get subsumed?)
SEE ALSO:
Samsung drops $10 billion in market value on poor demand for Galaxy S6 phones – July 31, 2015
Samsung will never overcome Apple’s advantage in mobile device profitability – July 30, 2015
Apple iPhone shipments show impressive growth as Samsung falls – July 30, 2015
Samsung offers downbeat outlook for year ahead of new Apple iPhones – July 30, 2015
Apple’s indomitable iPhone 6/Plus sales unfazed by Samsung’s anemic Galaxy S6/Edge – June 2, 2015
iPhone 6, killer: Beleaguered Samsung’s Galaxy S6 sales are a total disaster – May 22, 2015
Beleaguered Samsung reports 30 percent decline in operating profit – April 28, 2015
Samsung Galaxy S6 phones suffer weaker than expected sales in South Korea homeland – April 22, 2015
15 percent of Samsung Electronics execs quit amid profit slump – April 2, 2015
Significant Android to iPhone switching weakens market for Samsung Galaxy S6 – March 24, 2015
Apple iPhone takes smartphone market share from Android around the world – March 4, 2015
Poor man’s iPhone: Android on the decline – February 26, 2015
Study: iPhone users are smarter and richer than those who settle for Android phones – January 22, 2015
Why Android users can’t have the nicest things – January 5, 2015
iPhone users earn significantly more than those who settle for Android phones – October 8, 2014
Yet more proof that Android is for poor people – June 27, 2014
More proof that Android is for poor people – May 13, 2014
Android users poorer, shorter, unhealthier, less educated, far less charitable than Apple iPhone users – November 13, 2013
IDC data shows two thirds of Android’s 81% smartphone share are cheap junk phones – November 13, 2013
CIRP: Apple iPhone users are younger, richer, and better educated than those who settle for Samsung knockoff phones – August 19, 2013