3Q 2014: Smartphones Grew 20 Percent. Market share charts.

Gartner Says Sales of Smartphones Grew 20 Percent in Third Quarter of 2014.

Sales of Smartphones in Emerging Markets Exhibited Highest Growth Ever, While Western Europe Continued to Decline

Samsung Lost Market Share While Top Three Chinese Manufacturers Combined Smartphone Market Share Grew by Four Percentage Points

Worldwide sales of mobile phones to end users were flat in the third quarter of 2014, according to Gartner, Inc. However, sales of smartphones to end users grew 20.3 percent to reach 301 million units (see Table 1).

“Sales of feature phones declined 25 percent in the third quarter of 2014 because the difference in price between feature phones and low-cost Android smartphones is reducing further,” said Roberta Cozza, research director at Gartner. In the third quarter of 2014, smartphones accounted for 66 percent of the total mobile phone market, and Gartner estimates that by 2018, nine out of 10 phones will be smartphones. 

From a regional perspective, emerging markets exhibited some of the highest growths ever recorded with Eastern Europe and the Middle East and Africa achieving the highest increase in the third quarter of 2014, with sales of smartphones growing almost 50 percent year-over-year. Among the mature markets, the U.S. achieved the highest growth, with an 18.9 percent increase in the third quarter of 2014, fostered by the launch of the iPhones 6 and 6 Plus. Western Europe saw a decline of 5.2 percent, the third consecutive decline this year. 

“Over the holidays we expect record sales of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, but we should not underestimate the Chinese vendors and local brands,” said Annette Zimmermann, research director at Gartner. “Chinese players will continue to look at expanding in overseas emerging markets. In Europe prepaid country markets and attractive lost-cost LTE phones will also offer key opportunities for these brands.” Gartner expects sales of smartphones to reach 1.2 billion units in 2014. 

Table 1

Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Vendor in 3Q14 (Thousands of Units)

Company	3Q14 Units	3Q14 Market Share (%)	3Q13 Units	3Q13 Market Share (%)
Samsung	73,212.4	24.4	80,356.8	32.1
Apple	38,186.6	12.7	30,330.0	12.1
Huawei	15,934.9	5.3	11,665.7	4.7
Xiaomi	15,772.5	5.2	3,617.5	1.5
Lenovo	15,011.9	5.0	12,882.0	5.2
Others	142,891.6	47.5	111,445.0	44.5
Total	301,009.9	100.0	250,297.0	100.0

Source: Gartner (December 2014)

Top Smartphone Vendor Analysis 

In the third quarter of 2014, three of the top five smartphone vendors were Chinese. Huawei, Xiaomi and Lenovo grew their collective market share by 4.1 percentage points. “With the ability to undercut cost and offer top specs Chinese brands are well positioned to expand in the premium phone market too and address the needs of upgrade users that aspire to premium phones, but cannot afford Apple or Samsung high-end products,” said Ms. Cozza. Apple’s and Samsung’s combined smartphone share totaled 37 percent in the third quarter of 2014, down 7 percentage points from the same period last year. “The smartphone market is more than ever in flux as more players step up their game in this space,” added Ms. Cozza. 

Samsung: Sales of Samsung’s feature phones and smartphones declined in the third quarter of 2014, and Samsung lost market share in both markets. Samsung’s deepest decline came from feature phones, which decreased by 10.8 percent year-over-year. Demand for Samsung’s smartphones weakened mostly in Western Europe and Asia. Samsung’s smartphone sales declined 28.6 percent in China, the biggest market for Samsung.   

Apple: Sales of iPhones grew 26 percent in the third quarter of 2014. With the introduction of two large-screen phones for the first time, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, Apple managed to neutralize the advantage of Android competitors. Gartner expects Apple to experience its biggest ever fourth-quarter sales, with both of its large-screen phones seeing demand exceed supply since their launch. 

Although Huawei moved into the No. 3 position in the third quarter of 2014 there is still less than 1 million units between the bottom-three smartphone vendors in the top five. 

Xiaomi: Xiaomi made its debut among the top-five smarpthone vendors. It experienced the highest growth of the quarter, with an increase of 336 percent driven by strong performance in China where it became market leader. 

In the smartphone OS market, Android continued to increase its market share with a rise of 22 percent (see Table 2). On the other hand, Windows lost market share. “Microsoft needs to keep the momentum going from the third quarter, when Windows phone-based devices grew quarter-on-quarter thanks to the introduction of more mid-range devices,” said Ms. Zimmermann. 

Table 2

Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Operating System in 3Q14 (Thousands of Units)

Operating System	3Q14 Units	3Q14 Market Share (%)	3Q13 Units	3Q13 Market Share (%)
Android	250,060.2	83.1	205,243	82.0
iOS	38,186.6	12.7	30,330	12.1
Windows	9,033.4	3.0	8,916	3.6
Blackberry	2,419.5	0.8	4,401	1.8
Other OS	1,310.2	0.4	1,407	0.6
Total	301,009.9	100.0	250,296.8	100.0

Source: Gartner (December 2014) 

Worldwide mobile phone sales to end users totaled 455.8 million units in the third quarter of 2014 and were flat compared to the same period in 2013 (see Table 3). Mobile phone sales were up in all regions except Latin America (down -7.4 percent), Western Europe (down - 13.5 percent) and Japan (down - 1.8 percent). 

"Samsung and Nokia experienced sharp double-digit declines in the third quarter, which let Apple get closer to Nokia, with only 5 million units separating these two vendors,” said Ms. Cozza. “The gap is also narrowing between the third and fourth positions, and the fourth quarter could be decisive for Huawei and LG.” 

Table 3

Worldwide Mobile Phone Sales to End Users by Vendor in 3Q14 (Thousands of Units)

Company	3Q14 Units	3Q14 Market Share (%)	3Q13 Units	3Q13 Market Share (%)
Samsung	94,017.8	20.6	117,060.8	25.7
Nokia	43,134.2	9.5	63,058.8	13.8
Apple	38,186.6	8.4	30,330.0	6.7
LG Electronics	18,976.8	4.2	18,046.3	4.0
Huawei	16,324.3	3.6	13,574.8	3.0
TCL Communication	15,955.5	3.5	13,311.0	2.9
Xiaomi	15,772.5	3.5	3,617.5	0.8
Lenovo	15,131.5	3.3	12,999.8	2.9
ZTE	13,857.6	3.0	13,697.3	3.0
Micromax	10,172.4	2.2	6,786.5	1.5
Others	174,255.4	38.2	163,223.8	35.8
Total	455,784.7	100.0	455,706.5	100.0

Source: Gartner (December 2014) 

Additional information is available in the Gartner report “Market Share: Devices, All Countries, 3Q14 Update.” The report is available on Gartner’s website at http://www.gartner.com/document/2911618.Contacts

• Janessa Rivera
• Gartner
• janessa.rivera@gartner.com

• Rob van der Meulen
• Gartner
• rob.vandermeulen@gartner.com
• 
  
• About Gartner

Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world's leading information technology research and advisory company. We deliver the technology-related insight necessary for our clients to make the right decisions, every day. From CIOs and senior IT leaders in corporations and government agencies, to business leaders in high-tech and telecom enterprises and professional services firms, to technology investors, we are the valuable partner to clients in over 9,000 distinct enterprises worldwide. Through the resources of Gartner Research, Gartner Executive Programs, Gartner Consulting and Gartner Events, Gartner works with every client to research, analyze and interpret the business of IT within the context of their individual role. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, USA, and has 6,400 associates, including more than 1,480 research analysts and consultants, and clients in 85 countries. For more information, visit www.gartner.com.

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Q1 2012: Worlwide mobile sales to end users market share all brands chart , by Gartner.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesùs.

Gartner Says Worldwide Sales of Mobile Phones Declined 2 Percent in First Quarter of 2012; Previous Year-over-Year Decline Occurred in Second Quarter of 2009

Samsung’s Android-Based Smartphone Sales in First Quarter of 2012 Represented More Than 40 Percent of Android-Based Smartphone Sales Globally; No Other Vendors Achieved More Than a 10 Percent Market Share

Egham, UK, May 16, 2012— Worldwide sales of mobile phones to end users reached 419.1 million units in the first quarter of 2012, a 2 per cent decline from the first quarter of 2011, according to Gartner, Inc. This is the first time since the second quarter of 2009 that the market exhibited a decline.

“Global sales of mobile devices declined more than expected due to a slowdown in demand from the Asia/Pacific region,” said Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner. “The first quarter, traditionally the strongest quarter for Asia – which is driven by Chinese New Year, saw a lack of new product launches from leading manufacturers, and users delayed upgrades in the hope of better smartphone deals arriving later in the year.”

All vendors were impacted at different levels; however, white-box vendors seem to have suffered the most. While tier one players such as Nokia were negatively impacted on sell-in numbers (sold into retail), white-box vendors were unable to adjust production and were left with a build-up in inventory by the end of the quarter. Gartner expects some of this volume to be sold during the next couple of quarters, because the channel is likely to lower the prices to dispose of the stock.

“The lower results in the first quarter of 2012 have led us to be cautious about sales for the remainder of the year,” said Annette Zimmermann, principal research analyst at Gartner. “The continued roll-out of third generation (3G)-based smartphones by local and regional manufacturers such as Huawei, ZTE, Lenovo, Yulong and TCL Communication should help spur demand in China. In addition, the arrival of new products in mature markets based on new versions of the Android and Windows Phone operating systems (OSs), and the launch of the Apple iPhone 5 will help drive a stronger second half in Western Europe and North America. However, as we are starting to update our market forecast we feel a downward adjustment to our 2012 figures, in the range of 20 million units, is unavoidable.”

Samsung became the world’s top mobile handset vendor during the quarter, displacing Nokia which had held the No. 1 spot since 1998. Samsung’s mobile phone sales reached 86.6 million units (see Table 1), a 25.9 percent increase from last year. Samsung took back the world’s No. 1 smartphone position from Apple, selling 38 million smartphones worldwide. In addition, Samsung’s Android-based smartphone sales in the first quarter of 2012 represented more than 40 percent of Android-based smartphone sales worldwide; no other vendors achieved more than a 10 percent share of the market.

Sales of smartphones continued to drive mobile device market growth, reaching 144.4 million units in the first quarter of 2012, up 44.7 percent year-over-year. This quarter also saw the top two smartphone vendors, Apple and Samsung, raising their combined share to 49.3 percent, up from 29.3 percent in the first quarter of 2011, and widening their lead over Nokia – which saw its smartphone market share drop to 9.2 percent.

Nokia’s mobile handset sales reached 83.2 million units, a 22.7 percent decrease from the first quarter of 2011. “Smartphone sales are becoming of paramount importance at a worldwide level. For example, smartphone volumes contributed to approximately 43.9 per cent of overall sales for Samsung as opposed to 16 per cent for Nokia,” Mr. Gupta said.

Driven by the continued success of the iPhone 4S, Apple’s sales grew 96.2 percent in the first quarter of 2012 as the new model expanded into new markets and carriers. Sales in China were particularly strong this quarter. With more than 5 million units, China became the second-largest market for Apple after the U.S. On top of the sales through official carriers’ channels, there was an increase in transshipments from Hong Kong where volume has been growing over the past few quarters to reach a sell-in of more than 3 million units.

RIM sold 9.9 million mobile handsets in the first quarter of 2012, with its global share declining to 2.4 percent as competition increased in its international market strongholds. “RIM desperately needs to deliver winning BB10 products to retain users and stay competitive. This will be very challenging, because BB10 lacks strong developer support, and a new BB10 device will only be available in the fourth quarter of 2012,” said Mr. Gupta.

In the smartphone OS market, Android accounted for more than half of all smartphone sales (56.1 percent) in the first quarter of 2012 (see Table 2). Gartner analysts said the smartphone market has become highly commoditized and differentiation is becoming a challenge for manufacturers.

“This is particularly true for smartphones based on the Android OS, where a strong commoditization trend is at work and most players are finding it hard to break the mould,” Mr. Gupta said. “At the high end, hardware features coupled with applications and services are helping differentiation, but this is restricted to major players with intellectual property assets. However, in the mid to low-end segment, price is increasingly becoming the sole differentiator. This will only worsen with the entry of new players and the dominance of Chinese manufacturers, leading to increased competition, low profitability and scattered market share.”

For 2012: Gartner says: 119 million tablets sales, Apple iPad 61%, Google Androids 32% and Microsoft Windows 8 a distant N° 3.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesús.

For 2012: Gartner says: 119 million tablets sales, Apple iPad 61%, Google Androids 32% and Microsoft Windows 8 a distant N° 3.

Microsoft software maker  will remain a distant No. 3 behind Apple and Google, research firm Gartner said on Tuesday.

Gartner said it saw Microsoft winning 4 percent of the market in 2012, with its upcoming Windows 8 platform, while market leader Apple would control 61 percent of the market and Google's Android platform 32 percent.

The research firm said it expected Microsoft's market share to rise gradually, helped by enterprise purchases, but to reach just 11.8 percent in 2016 as it lacks consumer appeal.

"Many vendors will wait for Windows 8 to be ready and will try to enter the market with a dual-platform approach, hoping that the Microsoft brand could help them in both the business and consumer markets," Milanesi said.

In addition to traditional PC makers, Nokia, the world's largest cellphone maker by volume, is set to unveil its first tablet using Windows 8 software later this year.

Gartner said it expected the market to roughly double this year, with all vendors in total selling 119 million tablets.

Gartnet says: smartphone apps a loyalty tool.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesús.

Research firm Gartner highlighted the importance of apps as a tool to increase smartphone customer loyalty, as part of its analysis of the device market in the first quarter of 2011.

 In a statement, Roberta Cozza, principal research analyst for the company, noted: “Every time a user downloads a native app to their smartphone or puts their data into a platform's cloud service, they are committing to a particular ecosystem and reducing the chances of switching to a new platform. This is a clear advantage for the current stronger ecosystem owners Apple and Google. As well as putting their devices in the context of a broader ecosystem, manufacturers must start to see their smartphones as part of a computing continuum.”

Unsurprisingly, Gartner’s figures showcased the strong growth of Google’s Android platform, which increased its market share to 36 percent from 9.6 percent. Apple’s iOS also increased its share, to 16.8 percent from 15.3 percent. Of the top-tier platforms, two platforms lost share, with Symbian OS plummeting to 27.4 percent from 44.2 percent, and RIM’s BlackBerry dropping to 12.9 percent from 19.7 percent.

The figures also noted a “modest” sales performance for Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7, despite the company’s success in generating an app ecosystem around the platform. During the three months, 1.6 million Windows Phone units were sold, compared with 2.1 million powered by Microsoft’s legacy Windows Mobile platform. It was noted that in the long term, Nokia’s support for this platform will help build momentum.

Gartner Says: U.S. Consumers More Likely to Purchase a Smartphone Than Other device in 2011

WorldWideTech & Science. Francisco De Jesús.

Gartner Says: U.S. Consumers More Likely to Purchase a Smartphone Than Other Consumer Devices in 2011.

Consumers in the United States are more likely to buy a smartphone in 2011 than PCs, mobile phones, e-readers, media tablets and gaming products, according to a recent survey by Gartner, Inc. U.S. smartphone sales are expected to grow from 67 million units in 2010 to 95 million units in 2011. By comparison, mobile PC shipments are forecast to total 50.9 million in the United States. in 2011, up from 45.6 million from 2010.

In December 2010, Gartner surveyed 1,557 mobile phone users across the United States, China, India, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom about many topics, including the types of devices consumers are looking to buy within the next 12 months. A total of 256 U.S. consumers participated in the survey. The results of this study represent the views of the respondents. The sample was weighted to be representative of the online population where an online methodology was pursued, and of the total population where computer-assisted or face-to-face interviews were conducted.

Smartphones were followed by laptop computers and desktop computers in rankings of U.S. consumers' average intent to purchase in 2011. Mobile phones ranked fourth in average intent to purchase, followed by e-book readers in the fifth position, and tablet computers ranking sixth.

"Continued low retail pricing and widespread adoption of applications like Web browsing, e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, GPS and games will continue to stimulate consumer demand," said Hugues de la Vergne, principal research analyst at Gartner. "In 2010, smartphones benefited from aggressive operator device subsidies and lower-cost monthly data plans."

"As more consumers adopt smartphones, the market will shift from the more technically astute tech savants toward less tech-savvy comfortable conformists. Issues such as ease of use will become even more important in 2011," Mr. de la Vergne said. "First-time smartphone buyers may not be familiar with the range of operating systems (OSs) and the different versions of those OSs. With operators offering generous return policies on all mobile phones, it is important that handset producers offer devices that will appeal to the less technologically advanced consumer."

Although demand is very strong at the high end of the smartphone market, Gartner analysts said vendors should not ignore the middle and lower tiers of smartphones, which will be a source of growth in 2011 as operators look for prepaid smartphones that require no subsidy.

"Communication service providers should expand tiered data pricing to make open OS devices more affordable to the mass market. Introductory limited data plans of $10 to $15 a month will expand the market greatly for these devices, and in many cases, consumers will upgrade to higher-priced data plans over time once they get hooked on these services," Mr. de la Vergne said.

More information is available in the report "Findings: Smartphones Top U.S. Consumers' Intended Purchases for 2011" which can be found on the Gartner website at http://www.gartner.com/resId=1547927.