Worldwide sales of smartphones grew 20.3 per cent in the 2014 third quarter, with Samsung losing market share and the top three Chinese manufacturers, Huawei, Xiaomi and Lenovo, growing their combined market share by four percentage points, according to technology research firm Gartner.Sales of smartphones reached 301 million units for the quarter, with emerging markets exhibiting “some of the highest growths ever recorded”.
“Sales of feature phones declined 25 per cent in the third quarter of 2014 because the difference in price between feature phones and low-cost Android smartphones is reducing further,” commented Gartner research director Roberta Cozza.
“In the third quarter of 2014, smartphones accounted for 66 per cent of the total mobile phone market, and Gartner estimates that by 2018 nine out of 10 phones will be smartphones.”
Samsung, which has maintained its position as the number one worldwide smartphone vendor, nevertheless saw its worldwide smartphone market share for the quarter drop from 32.1 per cent to 24.4 per cent year-on-year.
Among the other top five vendors, Apple, which came in second, posted a rise in worldwide market share from 12.1 per cent to 12.7 per cent year-on-year; Huawei, third place, posted a rise from 4.7 per cent to 5.3 per cent; Xiaomi, fourth, grew from 1.5 per cent to 5.2 per cent; while Lenovo rounded out the top five, growing unit sales however recording a decline in market share from 5.2 per cent to 5 per cent.
Xiaomi, which made its debut among the worldwide top-five smartphone vendors, posted the highest growth of the quarter, with an increase of 336 per cent, driven by a strong performance in China where it became market leader.
Meanwhile, Apple’s iPhone sales grew 26 per cent in the quarter.
Gartner noted, with the introduction of two large-screen phones for the first time in the form of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, Apple “managed to neutralise the advantage of Android competitors”.
Gartner additionally expects Apple to experience “its biggest ever fourth-quarter sales, with both of its large-screen phones seeing demand exceed supply since their launch”.
“With the ability to undercut cost and offer top specs, Chinese brands are well positioned to expand in the premium phone market too and address the needs of upgrade users that aspire to premium phones but cannot afford Apple or Samsung high-end products,” Cozza commented.
“The smartphone market is more than ever in flux as more players step up their game in this space.”
In the operating system market, Android increased its year-on-year market share for the quarter from 82 per cent to 83.1 per cent, iOS posted a rise from 12.1 per cent to 12.7 per cent, while Windows recorded a decline from 3.6 per cent to 3 per cent.
