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Apple overtook Samsung to regain the top position in global smartphone sales in the fourth quarter of 2014.
This was disclosed by market tracker, Gartner, on Tuesday.
The survey by Gartner found Apple grabbed a 20.4 per cent share of smartphone sales to end users, boosted by the introduction of its large-screen iPhones. The California giant sold some 74.8 million handsets, the survey found.
South Korea’s Samsung meanwhile saw its share tumble to 19.9 per cent, as its smartphone sales dropped to 73 million units.
In the words of Gartner analyst Anshul Gupta, “Samsung continues to struggle to control its falling smartphone share, which was at its highest in the third quarter of 2013. This downward trend shows that Samsung’s share of profitable premium smartphone users has come under significant pressure”.
Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Vendor in 4Q14 (Thousands of Units)
Company |
4Q14 Units |
4Q14 Market Share (%) |
4Q13 Units |
4Q13 Market Share (%) |
Apple |
74,832 |
20.4 |
50,224 |
17.8 |
Samsung |
73,032 |
19.9 |
83,317 |
29.5 |
Lenovo* |
24,300 |
6.6 |
16,465 |
5.8 |
Huawei |
21,038 |
5.7 |
16,057 |
5.7 |
Xiaomi |
18,582 |
5.1 |
5,598 |
2.0 |
Others |
155,701.6 |
42.4 |
111,204.3 |
39.3 |
Total |
367,484.5 |
100.0 |
282,866.2 |
100.0 |
Source: Gartner (March 2015)
*The results for Lenovo include sales of mobile phones by Lenovo and Motorola.