Apple and Samsung are the top dogs in smartphone sales year over year and they tend to take turns at the top. For 2016 Q4 it seems the smartphone sales crown is going back to Apple, which likely has a lot to do with the Note7 situation. Smartphone sales, in general, had a 3% increase with over 1.5 billion devices being shipped in 2016. Apple shipped 78.3 million devices in 2016 Q4 beating Samsung by 800,000 devices giving Apple 18% market share.
“Apple shipped 78.3 million smartphones worldwide and captured 18 percent marketshare in Q4 2016, rising a steady 5 percent annually from 74.8 million units in Q4 2015. This was the iPhone’s best performance for over a year, as Apple capitalized on Samsung’s recent missteps. Samsung shipped 77.5 million smartphones worldwide in Q4 2016, dipping 5 percent annually from 81.3 million units in Q4 2015. Samsung lost momentum in the quarter as a result of its Note 7 battery fiasco. Samsung captured 18 percent share for the quarter and 21 percent share for the full year, its lowest level since 2011. Samsung will be banking on the rumored Galaxy S8 model in a few weeks’ time to reignite growth and return to the top spot in quarterly smartphone shipments. On an annualized basis, Samsung maintained first position with 309 million units shipped worldwide in 2016.”
Apple taking the top spot in Q4 for 2016 doesn’t mean doom and gloom for Samsung by any means. Samsung is still doing well, “On an annualized basis, Samsung maintained the first position with 309 million units shipped worldwide in 2016.” Samsung will come out swinging with the Galaxy S8 this year, which could very well become their most popular device to date with some new aesthetics and features.
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