Apple emerges no. 1 in Q4 as largest smartphone producer

Apple has emerged as the number one seller of smartphones in the global market in the fourth quarter, with the Cupertino-headquartered company selling a total of 77.3 million iPhones, giving it a 19.2 per cent market share.

Apple moved ahead of South Korea's Samsung, selling about 74.1 million devices and an 18.4 per cent market share, according to a survey by International Data Corporation (IDC).

Huawei came in at number three with a 10.2-per cent market share, followed by Chinese handset manufacturers such as Xiaomi (7.0 per cent) and Oppo (6.8 per cent). The overall smartphone sales were down 6.3 per cent with 403.5 million handsets shipped, it added.

The study, Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, reported that smartphone vendors shipped a total of 403.5 million units during the quarter ended December. This was a 6.3-per cent decline compared with the 430.7 million units shipped in the final quarter of 2016.

For the full year, the global smartphone market saw a total of 1.472 billion units shipped, a 1-per cent fall from the 1.473 billion units shipped in 2016. Developed markets such as China and the US both witnessed a decline during the quarter as consumers appeared to be in no rush to upgrade to the newest generation of higher-priced flagship devices.

"The latest flock of posh flagships may have had consumers hitting the pause button in the holiday quarter,'' Anthony Scarsella, research manager, Mobile Phones at IDC said.

"With ultra-high-end flagships all the rage in 2017, many of these new bezel-less wonders proved to be more of a luxury than a necessity among upgraders. Even though we have seen new full-screen displays, advanced biometrics, and improved artificial intelligence, the new and higher price points could be outweighing the benefits of having the latest and greatest device in hand,'' he added.

Apple experienced a slight downturn from the previous holiday quarter as iPhone volumes reached 77.3 million units, a year-over-year fall of 1.3 per cent. However, volumes were still enough to push Apple past Samsung and back into first place in the smartphone market, riding on the demand for iPhone 8, 8 Plus and iPhone X.

Samsung was the leader for 2017, despite losing out to Apple in the fourth quarter. The Korean company shipped 74.1 million units in the December quarter, down 4.4 per cent compared with the 77.5 million units from last year.

Huawei shipped 41.0 million units, down 9.7 per cent from the 45.4 million shipped in the fourth quarter of 2016, while Xiaomi managed to double its share to 7 per cent from 3.3 per cent during the holiday quarter last year.

OPPO came in fifth with it shipping 27.4 million smartphones while managing to maintain 12 per cent growth for the full year, amounting to 111.8 million smartphones.