As per the reports of IDC, according to their financial reports for Q2 2013, Samsung and Apple remain the market leaders; however, greater growth is coming from lesser companies. Samsung and Apple are, in a way, losing smartphone share.
IDC estimates that Samsung shipped 72.4 million smartphones during Q2, 44 percent higher than estimated. But apparently, Samsung’s share has receded from 32.2 percent last year to 30.4 percent in 2013.
Apple’s 31.2 million shipments represent a 13.1 percent share of the market. It saw a drop from 17.3 percent in the previous quarter in the market share.
The other three in the top five – LG, Lenovo and ZTE – registered greater yearly and quarterly growth than both, Apple and Samsung.
LG’s shipments of 12.1 million smartphones represented a 130 percent improvement, which increased it’s market share to 4.7 percent from 3.1 percent.
Lenovo charted 130.6 percent year-on-year shipment growth, the highest of any top-5 vendor for a 4.7 percent market share.
ZTE witnessed its shipments jump 57.8 percent to 10.1 million units. This, according to IDC, makes for a 4.2 percent market share.
iPhone 4 has evidently boosted Apple’s figures for the quarter. IDC says, “Samsung enjoyed a similar boost from the Galaxy S3, which received price cuts following the launch of the Galaxy S4. Credit should be given to Korea’s LG for realizing a profit from its steady diet of Android-powered smartphones, and it is certainly a different story to HTC which, though still posting slim profit, has seen its figures decline significantly over the past year or so.
LG, Lenovo and co are performing well with high-end devices, as well as lower-priced offerings, but it will be interesting to see how they perform as and when Apple launches a much-anticipated new iPhone model, which is expected in the coming months — particularly if older iPhones are discounted.”
IDC Research Manager, Ramon Llamas says, “The data is proof that the competition refuses to be shut out altogether, despite Apple and Samsung’s dominance.
The opposite end of the spectrum is just as, if not more, interesting than Apple and Samsung. Lower-priced smartphones continue to gain traction, but the key for vendors will be to keep prices low while still offering premium devices and services. We fully expect to see large-screen smartphones and other flagship devices establish a presence within the lower-priced smartphone segment as well.”
The others which account for 42 percent of IDC’s Q2 2013 shipment estimates are Nokia, RIM, HTC, Sony and the rest.