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Apple Topples Samsung in Global Smartphone Market

Cupertino sold 74.8 million iPhones during the holiday quarter, for 20.4 percent of the smartphone market.

By Angela Moscaritolo
March 3, 2015
Top 10 Smartphones (update)

Samsung is no longer the leader of the global smartphone market.

The Galaxy S6 ( at Amazon) maker lost its No. 1 spot to Apple in the fourth quarter of 2014, after holding the crown since 2011, new figures from Gartner indicate. Apple sold 74.8 million iPhones during the all-important holiday quarter, nabbing 20.4 percent of the market to beat out Samsung, which sold 73 million handsets for a 19.9 percent share, down from 29.5 percent in the year-ago quarter.

"Samsung's performance in the smartphone market deteriorated further in the fourth quarter of 2014, when it lost nearly 10 percentage points in market share," Gartner Principal Research Analyst Anshul Gupta said in a statement. "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." 

Meanwhile, Apple was riding high during the fourth quarter thanks to "huge demand" for its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus ($299.00 at Verizon) , especially in the U.S. and China, where sales grew 88 percent and 56 percent, respectively. Many users traded their old iPhone in for a newer model, and Apple gained some new fans thanks to its large-screen handsets, which now rival Android models in size. All in all, Q4 2014 was Apple's best quarter ever, Gartner said.

Samsung is likely hoping its new Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge will help it turn things around in 2015. Both devices were unveiled this week in Barcelona at MWC; see PCMag's hands on for more.

Overall, worldwide smartphone sales also had a record fourth quarter, growing 29.9 percent from a year ago to 367.5 million units, Gartner said. Smartphone sales for the whole year totaled 1.2 billion units, up 28.4 percent from 2013, and represented two-thirds of the global mobile phone market. The larger mobile phone market, meanwhile, rose nearly 4 percent to 1.9 billion units last year.

While Apple took the crown in Q4, Samsung beat out its rival for the full year, selling 307.6 million units compared to Cupertino's 191.4 million.

Lenovo took third place in the fourth quarter and 2014 overall, selling 24.3 million units in Q4 and 81.4 million during the whole year. China's Huawei and Xioami came in fourth and fifth for Q4, selling 21 million and 18.6 million handsets, respectively. Both companies have continued to improve their sales in China and other markets, and increased their share of the mid to low-end smartphone market.

"Chinese vendors are no longer followers," Gartner Research Director Roberta Cozza said in a statement. "They are producing higher-quality devices with appealing new hardware features that can rival the more established players in the mobile phone market. Brand building and marketing will be key activities in deciding which Chinese vendors can secure a foothold in mature markets."

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About Angela Moscaritolo

Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics

I'm PCMag's managing editor for consumer electronics, overseeing an experienced team of analysts covering smart home, home entertainment, wearables, fitness and health tech, and various other product categories. I have been with PCMag for more than 10 years, and in that time have written more than 6,000 articles and reviews for the site. I previously served as an analyst focused on smart home and wearable devices, and before that I was a reporter covering consumer tech news. I'm also a yoga instructor, and have been actively teaching group and private classes for nearly a decade. 

Prior to joining PCMag, I was a reporter for SC Magazine, focusing on hackers and computer security. I earned a BS in journalism from West Virginia University, and started my career writing for newspapers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.

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