Apple Leads Q3 Smartphone Sales, Samsung Closely Behind
Californian-based Apple has maintained its position as the smartphone market leader, nabbing the top position for Q3 smartphone sales – Samsung, meanwhile, is making strides to close the gap.
Strategy Analytics’ latest data reveals that in Q3FY17 [July – September] Apple accounted for 32% of the smartphone industry’s combined revenue.
Korean-based Samsung notched a share of 23.1%.
Samsung is edging closer, with the differential between itself and Apple dropping from 15.5 percentage points in Q3FY15 to 8.9 percentage points in the most recent quarter.
Concerning operating profits during the period, Apple took the lead, taking up 69.9% of the market. Samsung came in at 21.8%.
Again, the gap is closing between the two industry rivals – dropping from 66.9 percentage points to 48.1 percentage points between Q3FY15 to Q3FY17.
Market commentators claim the data is notable, as Apple generally nabs higher profits in the third and fourth quarters alongside the launch of its new iPhones.
Concerning shipment volumes, Samsung came in ahead – accounting for 21.2% of the market in the third quarter, followed by Apple with 11.4%.Strategy Analytics claims Apple’s recent performance has been significantly affected by the delayed released of the iPhone X – which missed out on Q3 – whilst Samsung has experienced strong results through the diversification of its smartphone product suite, from the budget Galaxy ‘A’ range to the flagship ‘S’ series.