The worldwide smartphone market grew 38.8% year over year in the
third quarter of 2013 (3Q13), according to the International Data
Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.
Vendors shipped a total of 258.4 million smartphones in 3Q13,
establishing a new record for units shipped in a single quarter by more
than 9.0%. The previous high was 237.0 million units shipped in the
second quarter of 2013.
In the worldwide mobile phone market (inclusive of smartphones),
vendors shipped 467.9 million units in 3Q13 compared to the 442.7
million units shipped in 3Q12, representing 5.7% year-over-year growth.
Third quarter shipments were up 7.0% when compared to the 437.4 million
units shipped in 2Q13.
"The third quarter was up substantially over the previous quarter,
which was also a record quarter for shipments, showing the real momentum
of the smartphone market," said Ryan Reith, Program Director with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.
"Price points have declined significantly, driven largely by low-cost
Android solutions. This has helped China to become one of the fastest
growing smartphone markets in the world, accounting for more than one
third of all shipments last quarter. We expect this trend to continue
going forward."
The Android smartphone platform has created vast opportunities for
new vendors to get into the smartphone space and, in turn, has produced
new competitive pressures at the top of the market. Vendors from outside
the top 5 continue to control nearly half the worldwide smartphone
market in terms of shipments.
"Beyond Samsung and Apple at the top of the rankings is a tight race of vendors trying to break out from the pack," says Ramon Llamas, Research Manager with IDC's Mobile Phone
team. "In 3Q13, Chinese vendors Huawei and Lenovo moved past LG, and
not far behind are two more Chinese companies, Coolpad and ZTE. Any of
these vendors could change position again next quarter. But in addition
to having close shipment volumes, they all have one key ingredient in
common: Android. This has been a huge factor in their success, but it
also speaks to the challenges of differentiation on the world's most
popular platform."
"Looking ahead, we anticipate strong momentum going into the fourth
quarter, and another record quarter and year in the worldwide smartphone
market," added Llamas. "With already strong growth in 3Q13 and multiple
vendors launching flagship models, the market will be poised to reach
one billion units for the year. It's a significant milestone considering
the market shipped just half a billion units in 2011. Moving forward,
what remains to be seen is how the various companies and platforms will
stay differentiated and relevant in the increasingly competitive
market."
Smartphone Vendor Highlights
Samsung easily maintained its leadership position,
shipping more units than the next four vendors combined. Samsung's
flagship models received the lion's share of attention during 3Q13, with
more carriers adding the Galaxy S4, continued demand for the Galaxy S
III, and the introduction of the Galaxy Note 3. Despite the popularity
of those models, it was the company's long line of mass-market
smartphones that helped fuel volumes to reach a new record level.
Apple's total volumes speak to the early success of
the iPhones 5S and 5C, and the softening demand of older devices prior
to the new models launching. The iPhone 5S lived up to the hype of the
gold case and the fingerprint sensor, and the iPhone 5C with an array of
colors. At the same time, limited usability on the fingerprint sensor
and higher-than-expected pricing on the iPhone 5C drew mixed reactions.
Still, this did not prevent Apple from enjoying a record 9 million units
shipped in their debut.
Huawei returned to the list of top five vendors
after a one-quarter hiatus, narrowly beating out Lenovo and LG. In fact,
less than a million units separate Huawei from the next two vendors,
underscoring how tightly contested the market has become following
Samsung and Apple. Huawei relied on Asia/Pacific for the bulk of its
shipment volumes, but the company continued to make headway into Europe
and the Americas with volumes exceeding one million units in each
region.
Lenovo posted the largest year-over-year increase
among the leading vendors, enough to push past LG to claim the number
four position worldwide. The company relied on its stronghold in
Asia/Pacific, and particularly China, where the overwhelming majority of
its smartphones went. Lenovo has also made continued progress in other
markets, pushing into Latin America and EMEA.
LG slipped to fifth place, but nevertheless posted
strong double-digit year-over-year smartphone growth (72.2%). Although
volumes were flat from the previous quarter (12.0 million units), LG's
product portfolio shows continued maturity at the high-end of the
market. Key to its success was the launch of the Optimus G2 and a
continued strong reception for the Optimus G and the Optimus G Pro. In
contrast was LG's performance in emerging markets, where 3G competition
intensified.
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