Report: iPhone Now Has Only 15% of the Smartphone Market Share

BY Rajesh Pandey

Published 27 Apr 2016

iPhone SE

The latest data from research firm IDC shows that Apple lost 3 percent of the global smartphone market share in Q1, 2016. Apple announced its quarterly earnings earlier today, where it revealed that it shipped 51.2 million smartphones in the first three months of the year — down by 16.3% from the same time last year. Compared to the same time a year ago, the company had shipped 61 million iPhones.

The drop in shipment saw Apple’s market share drop to 15 percent in Q1, 2016 compared to the 18 percent in the same quarter in 2015. IDC notes that current iPhone 6 and 6 Plus users don’t necessary feel the need to upgrade to the latest ‘S’ generation of iPhone from Apple. As for the iPhone SE, this is what the firm had to say:

Apple also announced the new iPhone SE, which looks to challenge similarly priced Android options in numerous emerging markets where Apple has traditionally been seen as too expensive. The SE features all the power of the 6S in a compact form factor that looks to equally target those who desire smaller phones as well. However, at US$399, the SE still faces equally powerful lower-priced devices from competitors, particularly within India and China. As Apple CEO Cook mentioned on the company’s earnings call, the SE will begin having an impact on iPhone shipments in the second quarter of 2016.

Apple IDC

Market leader Samsung also saw a drop in its total shipments, though its drop was relatively modest compared to Apple. The Korean giant shipped 81.9 million smartphones in Q1, 2016, compared to 82.4 millions smartphones it shipped during the same time a year ago. The company that benefited the most from Apple’s loss was Huawei that captured the number 3 spot in the global smartphone market in terms of shipment. The Chinese company shipped 27.5 million smartphones, which is a rise of over 58% from the 17.4 million units it had shipped in Q1, 2015.

Other than Huawei, OPPO and vivo also made their way to the top 5 smartphone vendors in terms of unit sold for the first time. Both companies surpassed Lenovo/Motorola and Xiaomi, who have lost noticeable market share in recent times.

Overall, IDC echoes what almost every analyst has been saying: smartphone sales are slowing down. Compared to last year, the first quarter of 2016 saw a total of 334.9 million smartphones being shipped, an increase of a mere 500,000 units from the asme time last year.

[Via IDC]