Struggling Samsung to see first-ever year-over-year drop in smartphone shipments in 2015
“Samsung Electronics is still likely going to wind up as the world’s largest smartphone maker by volume this year, but according to research firm TrendForce, it likely will actually see total shipments decline on a total year-over-year basis for the first time,” Phil Goldstein reports for FierceWireless.
“TrendForce noted that numerous OEMs unveiled their next-generation flagship devices ahead of the iPhone 6s announcement in September, including Samsung’s Galaxy Note 5, Huawei’s Mate S and Sony Z5 series,” Goldstein reports. “‘Consequently, much of this year’s growth momentum in the smartphone market was concentrated in the third quarter,’ the firm said, adding that it estimates that worldwide smartphone shipments in the third quarter grew 9.1 percent from the second quarter, totaling 332 million units.”
Apple’s new 4.7-inch iPhone 6s and 5.5-inch iPhone 6s Plus
“‘Samsung has lost much of its shares in the low-end to mid-range markets to Chinese competitors,’ TrendForce, a global research firm with analysts in Taipei, Shenzhen and Shanghai, said in a statement. ‘TrendForce therefore anticipates that the vendor will see its first ever decline of annual smartphone shipments in 2015, with a 1% year-on-year drop and around 323.5 million units shipped,'” Goldstein reports. “The firm thinks Apple, now the No. 2 smartphone player [in terms of units shipped], will see its iPhone shipments grow 16 percent globally this year to around 223.7 million units.”
