Roger Fingas
Apple's record iPhone sales during the December quarter allowed it edge ahead of Samsung and once again become the world's top smartphone vendor, though not for whole of 2016, according to new research data.
Apple's 78.3 million iPhones gave it a 17.8 percent share in the quarter, Strategy Analytics said, barely putting it ahead of Samsung's 17.7 percent driven by 77.5 million units. China's Huawei was a distant third, claiming 44.9 million units and a 10.2 percent share.
Samsung did best in 2016 overall, shipping 309.4 million phones versus Apple's 215.4 million.
But Apple "capitalized on Samsung's recent missteps," Strategy Analytics said, referring to the recall and death of the Galaxy Note 7.
The device was rushed to market in August, and subsequently plagued by dozens of accounts of battery fires, which Samsung later linked to two separate defects. The debacle will ultimately cost Samsung over $5 billion.
The Note line is normally popular with high-end smartphone shoppers, meaning that the Note 7 was likely the decisive factor preventing Samsung from holding onto Q1 marketshare.
High iPhone 7 sales helped push Apple's Q1 revenues to a record $78.4 billion, with net profits of $17.9 billion. Mac sales were up 1 percent, but iPad sales fell 19 percent, continuing a broader decline.
Charles Martin
Malcolm Owen
Andrew O'Hara
William Gallagher
20 Comments
But but..I thought external design was everything and no one would buy an iPhone that resembles the last iPhone.
News Flash: Every iPhone resembles every other iPhone. No one cares.
Sounds like Apple's Oct-Dec phablet numbers are on fire! Oh, wait. Sorry. They came roaring back! What? No? OK. Perhaps this is just a spark signaling things to come. Too soon? Well, let's see how the next Q does, if this can be sustained or if these numbers just flame out. C'mon, you can't not...
Interesting fact: Apple's market cap is now just $8 billion above where it was in 2012 when the stock hit $700. With the 7:1 split, had Apple not bought back any shares, the stock at $100 would have equaled the 2012 market cap, but with all the share buybacks it now takes a price of about $126 to attain that market cap. Which is a good thing for Apple shareholders.
Does anyone care still care about this marketshare nonsense?
It doesn't mean you make more money.
It doesn't mean developers head for your platform first.
It doesn't mean you can make a phone that won't explode in your customers' faces.
It looks like Samsung's marketshare fell drastically from 22.2% to 17.7%, due to their fiery Note, Apple actually also went down from 18.6% to 17.8% but still managed to edge out Samsung's quarter by 0.1%.
Apple should worry about growing their marketshare and maintain their 90%+ market profits. They also really need to make the iPad and MacBooks great again!