Apple Inc. showed substantial growth in revenue in the past quarter, the last one for 2014. Surely, the results make the last quarter a record breaking one not just for Apple, but for all public companies. The tech giant generated a staggering figure of $18 billion in revenue. But, is that enough for the company to get the top spot on the list of companies in the smartphone industry with the biggest market share in the world?
Samsung rose to the top spot, beating out Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), in the second quarter of 2011. Demand for Samsung phones rose rapidly, as the company provided smartphones with similar capabilities to those being developed and sold by Apple Inc., at cheaper prices. Another major reason behind this soar was the highly capable Android OS the company had freshly adopted, which resembled (and in some cases, outperformed) the software being used by Apple Inc.’s iPhone smartphone.
But, demand for Samsung smartphones have been falling for the sequentially since Q3 2013, after Google strengthened its position in the market, along with other manufacturers, and released smartphones running the Android OS. According to experts, this split in market share is the reason behind Samsung’s declining market share in the smartphone industry.
However, in the fourth quarter of 2014, Apple Inc. increased its market share rapidly, by providing smartphones that proved too unique to have competitors in the industry. The company released the sixth edition of the iPhone in two variations, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, with latter being the largest iPhone the company has ever made.
Analysts are of the opinion that the market for smartphones had begun to demand phones with large screens, a feature that Apple Inc. seemed reluctant to install in its iPhone smartphone. Samsung, however, made large screened smartphones, and hence dominated the market by providing it exactly what it wanted. However, now Apple Inc. seems to be on track once more. The iPhone 6 Plus is the largest iPhone in history, and with its 5.7” screen size, it has attracted more demand than industry experts (or even Apple Inc.) estimated it to generate.
After Q4 2014, Apple finally seems to have overtaken Samsung in terms of market share. But economists are of the opinion that both the companies now stand neck-neck in terms of global smartphone demand.
Apple Inc. recorded sales of over 74.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2014. Samsung, on the other hand, recorded shipping over 95 million phones all over the world. However, the figure recorded by Samsung also includes those that cannot be classified as “smartphones”. According to most data-collecting firms, Samsung sales of smartphones resided in the 70-80 million range as well.
The reason why no clear winner may be declared is because of variation in the number of smartphones Samsung has sold in Q4 2014. Some research firms have pegged the number at 75.1 million, whereas others have declared the number to be 73.8 million. Strategic Analytics estimates the number to be 74.5 million, exactly that declared by Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)
Both Apple and Samsung currently own 19%-20% of total world market share for smartphones, each, making them the market owners in the smartphone field.
