The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus launch has fostered growth of nearly 19% in smartphone sales in the US, although worldwide sales have been flat, says market research firm Gartner after analyzing data from the third calendar quarter.
Looking forward, Garner expects record iPhone sales but warned about the growth of local Chinese brands. Huawei and Xiaomi are poised to grow, the third quarter sales data shows, as Xiaomi more than tripled its global market share in just one 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.
Apple’s global share rose 0.6% to 12.7% compared to the third quarter of 2013, while Samsung has apparently lost its mojo, as its market share dropped to 24.4% from last year’s 32.1%.
As Gartner points out, Apple’s iPhone sales grew 26% in the third calendar quarter of 2014, as the company managed to neutralize the advantage of Android competitors by launching two bigger-screen models.
Samsung remains the #1 vendor of mobile phones worldwide, with more than 94 million units sold in just three months (20.6% global market share), followed by Nokia with 43 million units (9.5%). Interestingly, though, Apple is third, with more than 38 million iPhones (8.4% global market share)— that’s only 5 million units away from surpassing Nokia.
