Samsung remains the top vendor, although it lost 7 percent market share

Jul 30, 2014 21:49 GMT  ·  By

Shipments on smartphones have grown significantly over the past quarters, reaching a record 295.3 million units during the second quarter of the year, a recent report coming from IDC reveals.

According to data coming from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, the smartphone market grew 23.1 percent year on year during the second quarter of the year.

The first quarter of 2014 registered strong sales as well, as shipments in the second quarter were only 2.6 percent up sequentially. According to the research firm, the increase in sales was fueled by "ongoing demand for mobile computing and an abundance of low-cost smartphones."

Moreover, the firm notes that the market is expected to continue on this ascending trend in the second half of the year, and that it will surpass the 300 million units mark during the third quarter of 2014. It will be the first time ever when that happens.

"A record second quarter proves that the smartphone market has plenty of opportunity and momentum," says Ryan Reith, program director with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.

"Right now we have more than a dozen vendors that are capable of landing in the top 5 next quarter. A handful of these companies are currently operating in a single country, but no one should mistake that for complacency – they all recognize the opportunity that lies outside their home turf."

When it comes to top smartphone makers, IDC reports that Samsung managed to maintain its leading position, but that the company saw a challenging quarter. Local vendors in emerging markets remain the main driver for smartphone sales growth.

Chinese mobile phone makers have seen impressive increase in sales lately, with Huawei and Lenovo being the most notable ones. Apparently, Huawei managed to almost double its sales when compared to last year.

During the second quarter of the year, Samsung lost a 7 percent market share compared to the same period a year ago, although it managed to sell millions of Galaxy S5 devices and also registered strong S4 and even S3 shipments. It currently enjoys a 25.2% market share.

Apple sold more smartphones than in the same three-month period a year ago, but saw its market share dropping by 1.1 percent to only 11.9% when compared to the second quarter last year.

Huawei sold 20.3 million devices in the timeframe, up from 10.4 million in Q2 last year, which helped it reach a 6.9 percent market share. Lenovo, on the other hand, ended the quarter with 5.4 percent market share and sales of 15.8 million units.

South Korean mobile phone maker LG Electronics ended the quarter on the fifth position with 4.9 percent market share, though it did manage to ship 14.5 million devices. Affordable devices such as the L70 helped the company increase shipments.

"As the death of the feature phone approaches more rapidly than before, it is the Chinese vendors that are ready to usher emerging market consumers into smartphones,” Melissa Chau, senior research manager with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, says.