Samsung slips further in smartphone market but still tops Apple
Apple's iPhone 6 lineup continues to challenge Samsung's Galaxy S6 phones, according to research firm Gartner.
Samsung is still the top dog in the smartphone arena though it continues to drip market share.
The Korean mobile phone maker saw its cut of the smartphone market dip to 21.9 percent in the second quarter ended June 30 from 26.2 percent for the same quarter last year, Gartner said on Thursday. Over the same period, Samsung's smartphone sales fell to 72 million from 76.1 million.
Though still in second place, Apple boosted its smartphone market share to 14.6 percent last quarter from 12.2 percent in the prior year's quarter. iPhone sales shot up to 48 million from 35.3 million over the same period. Samsung launched its Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge in April, but those phones continue to be challenged by Apple's iPhone lineup, Gartner said.
Samsung's smartphone sales and market share have been spiraling down for almost two years now. And the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge have so far failed to turn things around, leading to Samsung's seventh straight drop in quarterly earnings for the second quarter. The company has been facing greater competition from Chinese vendors such as Xiaomi and Huawei on the lower end and Apple on the high end. Samsung's premium phones continue to sell at a premium price tag, though the company has promised to "adjust" prices on its Galaxy S6 lineup. And larger-screened phones are no longer the domain of Android vendors such as Samsung. Apple turned into a stronger rival last September when it introduced its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, with display sizes of 4.7 inches and 5.5 inches, respectively.
On August 13, Samsung unveiled its new Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+ , hoping those new phones might win over customers and help recover some of its lost sales and market share.
For the second quarter, Apple's iPhone sales rose by 36 percent, helping it gain an additional 2.4 percentage points in market share. The company benefited from healthy iPhone replacements in both mature and emerging markets, according to Gartner. Though the Chinese smartphone market has stalled as of late, China remained a strong region for Apple where total iPhone sales grew last quarter by 68 percent to reach 11.9 million units.
Chinese vendor Huawei earned the biggest jump in sales growth during the second quarter at 46.3 percent, winning third place among all smartphone vendors. The company's market share rose to 7.8 percent from 6.1 percent, while its smartphone sales jumped to 25.8 million from 17.6 million. Gartner attributed the gains to stronger sales overseas as well as solid 4G smartphone sales in China.
Fellow Chinese phone maker Lenovo took home fourth place, though its cut of the smartphone market fell to 5 percent from 6.6 percent, while sales dropped to 16.4 million from 19 million. Those results include sales of mobile phones made by Lenovo and Motorola Mobility, which Lenovo acquired last October for $2.91 billion. But that purchase isn't paying off at this point. Lenovo announced last Thursday that it would cut around 3,200 jobs from its workforce of 60,000 after sales of Motorola mobile phones fell by 31 percent last quarter.