Samsung Smartphone Shipments Double over Apple iPhones in Q1 2016

By the end of 2015, Samsung had still remained as the No.1 smartphone brand followed by Apple. Though the company is in No.1 position, its year on year growth has been drastically dropped. But in 2016, with the success of Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge, the company has seen reversed it’s path that too when the smartphone penetration has slowed down. According to TrendForce, the global smartphone shipments are down by 1.3% year on year and had seen a massive 18.6% drop over quarter on quarter.

Normally we use huge sales in the fourth quarter of every year, but Samsung had achieved 27.8% growth in Q1 2016 which is more than 22.1% market share in Q4 2015. On the other hand, Apple which had launched iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus had a market share of 20.9% in Q4 2015 which is now dropped to 14.4% in Q4 2016. The early launch of the flagship Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge along with the Galaxy A 2016 and Galaxy J 2016 devices are the major factors for the rise in global smartphone market share.

From the stats, Samsung had shipped almost double the number of iPhones shipped in the Q1 2016. While the Galaxy J 2016 devices are yet to be made available outside of China, we can see the same trend to be continued by Samsung in the Q2. There are few leaks suggesting the launch of an all new Galaxy C series which will be an added advantage if they are launched soon. The sales of the 4-inch iPhone SE will be added to the Q2 2016 and unlike the major fall in Q1, we can see some growth in market share by the end of Q2.

Talking about the largest market in world China, the homegrown companies have dethroned the global giants Samsung and Apple from the top 5 list. Though the shipments have been decreased, Huawei is well ahead of the other smartphone brands in China. With the launch of Huawei P9 and P9 Plus, we can expect the company to increase its market share. Lenovo and Xiaomi occupied second and third positions respectively, but the gap between them is very narrow. While the top 3 positions are expected to be unchanged, there will be changes in the market shares of the manufacturers.

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