Begin typing your search...
Apple regains top global spot after eight sluggish quarters
As global smartphone sales to end-users hit 432 million units in the fourth quarter of 2016 - a seven per cent increase over the like period in 2015 - Apple finally leapfrogged past Samsung after eight sluggish quarters to secure the top spot, a report said.
By
migrator
migrator
Mumbai
Riding on the success of iPhone 7 and Apple Watch, the Cupertino-based company recently announced an all-time record revenue of $78.4 billion for the first quarter of 2017 that ended on December 31. International sales accounted for 64 per cent of the quarter’s revenue. Overall, smartphone sales to end-users totalled nearly 1.5 billion units in 2016, an increase of five per cent from 2015, said the report from the market research firm Gartner.
“It has taken eight quarters for Apple to regain the top spot in global smartphone vendor ranking but the positions of the two leaders have never been so close, with only 256,000 units difference,” said Anshul Gupta, Research Director, Gartner, in a statement. Samsung’s smartphone sales declined eight per cent in the fourth quarter of 2016 and its share dropped by 2.9 percentage points year-on-year.
“The withdrawal of the Galaxy Note 7 left a gap in its large-screen phone range. Samsung also faced growing competition in the mid-tier and entry-level smartphone segments from Huawei, Oppo, BBK and Gionee, which all grew their sales each quarter,” added Gupta.
Huawei, Oppo and BBK accounted for 21.3 per cent of smartphones sold to end users worldwide during the fourth quarter of 2016, an increase of 7.3 percentage points year on year. Offering high-performance, front-facing cameras and fast charging smartphones led Oppo to maintain the top position in China during the fourth quarter of 2016. In the smartphone operating system market, Google’s Android extended its lead by capturing 82 per cent of the total market in the fourth quarter of 2016, the report noted.
Samsung unveils its solar-powered fridges
Samsung India unveiled its expanded consumer electronics portfolio here. It launched smart, convertible frost-free and direct cool refrigerators which can run on solar power, alongside a new range of air conditioners. Rishi Suri, Director, Consumer Electronics said, “In Tamil Nadu, we enjoy a leadership position. In frost free refrigerators, we have a 43.1 pc market share and in side-by-side refrigerators, we have 55.9 pc share. Our market share is 17.6 per cent in the inverter a/c segment, which is again a market leader position in TN.” Mentioning that the new range of products were being manufactured in the Samsung factory in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai, Suri spoke about the national market share of the company as well, in the consumer electronic segment. He says, “National share in the colour TV market is at 31 per cent, the inverter a/c segment is placed at 26 per cent, microwave ovens are at 35 per cent while in the frost free range, our share is 40.8 per cent. We have been growing considerably in 2016 with double digit growth and we expect to continue the same.”
Visit news.dtnext.in to explore our interactive epaper!
Download the DT Next app for more exciting features!
Click here for iOS
Click here for Android
Next Story
