PEAK iPHONE? Apple mobe growth slumps to ‘lowest in its history’
What won't appear on Tim Cook's WWDC 2013 slides
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Samsung has extended its lead over Apple by shifting considerably more smartphones than its adversary during the first quarter of 2013.
The South Korean giant also managed to ship 56 per cent more mobes in those three months than it did in the same period a year ago.
Among the world’s top five smartphone vendors, Apple - despite shipping more phones during Q1 2013 than it did in Q1 2012 - actually saw its market share slip year on year as all its key rivals performed better, figures from market watcher Strategy Analytics show.
So while Apple’s global smartphone share fell from 22.8 per cent in Q1 2012 to 17.9 per cent in Q1 2013, Samsung’s share grew (28.9 per cent to 33.1 per cent), as did those of LG (3.2 per cent to 4.9 per cent), Huawei (3.3 per cent to 4.8 per cent) and ZTE (3.0 per cent to 4.3 per cent).
The "others" category - including Nokia, HTC, Sony and Motorola - declined, and now accounts for 35.0 per cent of global smartphone shipments, down from 38.8 per cent in the year-ago quarter.
Apple’s market share declined despite a 6.6 per cent increase in unit shipments, and still leaves it in the number two spot with a considerable lead over third-placed LG. The Cupertino company is also number three in the world handset market, which reached 372.7 million units during the quarter, 56.2 per cent of which were smartphones.
Smartphones shipments across the board were up 36.2 per cent to 209.5 million units, so Apple is clearly well behind the growth curve. And likely to remain there with no new handset expected until the autumn - if CEO Tim Cook’s recent comments are taken at face value - and Samsung seemingly generating so much demand for the Galaxy S4.
Samsung’s Korean rival, LG, along with China’s Huawei and ZTE, all saw their unit shipments double year on year, so they are all on a roll. Those last two shipped primarily into their own nations, which shows how important the Chinese market is if you want to grow in the smartphone business.
Apple, for one, needs to take note. “Apple grew just seven per cent annually during Q1 2013, which was the iPhone’s lowest growth rate ever in its history,” said Strategy Analytics analyst Neil Mawston. “Apple’s premium-only strategy for the iPhone is approaching a natural ceiling and it will need to expand deeper into large markets like China or launch a lower-priced iPhone model for mass-market users.” ®
COMMENTS
Highly Rated
Neil Mawston is clearly a pillock
What Apple actually need to do, IMHO, as actually release a product that's actually an innovative repackaging of an existing concept again. The iPhone? Not the first smartphone. But well designed, well marketed, and ultimately desirable. Same for the iPad.
Or, you know, they could release something that is genuinely innovative. I fear they're going to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory if this trend of incremental upgrade bullshit that they peddled out between iPhones 4, 4S and 5 continues. And that won't be good for anyone. Not even the 'droids. Because as the Android dominance continues, manufacturers will get lazy. It happened with Microsoft and Windows. it will happen again with the Android peddlers. We need competition to keep the market fresh.
And would it kill Apple to give iOS a facelift? Seriously?
But then, what do I know? I'm not a Strategy Analytics analyst. I'm just a consumer who knows what he wants.
Re: As ever ...
Okay, when we hear a story about Samsung burning millions of surplus mobes, or burying them in the desert, or completely halting all future production of their hardware, then I will accept that there is a difference.
Until then lets just accept that all those shipped devices are as good as sold.
"will need to expand deeper"
I don't understand why Apply "will need to expand deeper" into new markets.
Marketshare doesn't immediately equal success or profitability. It just means the number of people using your product. It's just a statistic.
If the cost of being in those new markets outweighs the profit from each product sold, then having the largest marketshare is going to be detrimental.
But then again, I guess Strategy Analytics analyst Neil Mawston wouldn't be in a job if people realised this.
@RogerThat - Sweet Jesus, dude...
There's fanboying, and then there's that post. Samsung are the devil, their phones always break, there's a blogger conspiracy, etc, etc.
Knock it off.
I don't even like Android that much (I prefer it to iOS, but then I'd prefer a chainsaw in the shins to iOS), and I can tell you that the S3 is an excellent feature phone. I thought when I got it through work that I'd end up preferring my previous S2, and after quite a lot of time using it.....nope. In fact, I'd say it's better than my Nexus 4, specs be damned. The screen is gorgeous, the system is nippy, the battery life is surprisingly decent.
As a smartphone, they all suck, and I'd rather have an N950 if I could find someone to steal one from, but as a featurephone the S3 kicks ten bells out of anything Apple branded.
