Im vierten Quartal 2015 wurden weltweit 403 Millionen Smartphones verkauft, so das IT Research- und Beratungsunternehmen Gartner. Das entspricht einem Wachstum um 9,7 Prozent im Vergleich zum Vorjahr. Die Wachstumsrate ist allerdings die langsamste seit 2008. Im Gesamtjahr 2015 wurden 1,4 Milliarden Smartphones verkauft, 14,4 Prozent mehr als 2014.
»Preiswerte Smartphones in Schwellenmärkten und eine große Nachfrage nach Premium-Modellen sind weiterhin die treibenden Faktoren«, erklärt Anshul Gupta, Research Director bei Gartner. »Aggressive Preismodelle in den Schwellenmärkten von lokalen und chinesischen Anbietern führten bei den mittleren und Einstiegsmodellen dazu, dass die Konsumenten schneller auf bezahlbare Smartphones umgestiegen sind.«
Samsung und Huawei waren im vierten Quartal 2015 die einzigen der Top 5 Smartphone-Hersteller, die ihre Verkaufszahlen an Endnutzer steigern konnten. Apple musste seinen ersten Rückschlag einstecken – die iPhone-Verkäufe gingen um 4,4 Prozent zurück. Foto: cc0 pixabay
Gartner Says Worldwide Smartphone Sales Grew 9.7 Per Cent in Fourth Quarter of 2015
Global Smartphone Sales Exhibited Slowest Growth Since 2008
iPhone Sales Declined for the First Time
Egham, UK, 18th February, 2016 — Global sales of smartphones to end users totalled 403 million units in the fourth quarter of 2015, a 9.7 per cent increase over the same period in 2014, according to Gartner, Inc. However, this was their slowest growth rate since 2008. In 2015 as a whole, smartphone sales reached 1.4 billion units, an increase of 14.4 per cent from 2014.
»Low-cost smartphones in emerging markets, and strong demand for premium smartphones, continued to be the driving factors,” said Anshul Gupta, research director at Gartner. »An aggressive pricing from local and Chinese brands in the midrange and entry-level segments of emerging markets led to consumers upgrading more quickly to affordable smartphones.”
Mr Gupta said that 85 per cent of users in the emerging Asia/Pacific market are replacing their current midrange phone with the same category of phone. In addition, currency devaluations against the US dollar in many emerging markets are putting further margin pressure on many vendors that import devices. Current market conditions are prompting some vendors to consider setting up manufacturing operations in India and Indonesia to avoid being hit by future unfavourable currency devaluations and high import taxes.
In the fourth quarter of 2015, Samsung and Huawei were the only two top-five smartphone vendors to increase their sales to end users (see Table 1). Apple suffered its first decline in sales of smartphones — iPhone sales were down 4.4 per cent.
Table 1
Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Vendor in 4Q15 (Thousands of Units)
| Company | 4Q15
Units |
4Q15 Market Share ( %) | 4Q14
Units |
4Q14 Market Share ( %) |
| Samsung | 83,437.7 | 20.7 | 73,031.5 | 19.9 |
| Apple | 71,525.9 | 17.7 | 74,831.7 | 20.4 |
| Huawei | 32,116.5 | 8.0 | 21,038.1 | 5.7 |
| Lenovo* | 20,014.7 | 5.0 | 24,299.9 | 6.6 |
| Xiaomi | 18,216.6 | 4.5 | 18,581.6 | 5.1 |
| Others | 177,798.0 | 44.1 | 155,551.6 | 42.3 |
| Total | 403,109.4 | 100.0 | 367,334.4 | 100.0 |
*The figures for Lenovo include sales of mobile phones by both Lenovo and Motorola
Source: Gartner (February 2016)
Although Samsung was the No.1 vendor, Gartner analysts said the company faces challenges. »For Samsung to stop falling sales of premium smartphones, it needs to introduce new flagship smartphones that can compete with iPhones and stop the churn to iOS devices,” said Mr Gupta.
With an increase in sales of 53 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2015, Huawei achieved the best performance year over year. Huawei’s increased brand visibility overseas, and its decision to sell almost only smartphones, gave it a higher average selling price in 2015.
For total sales of smartphones in 2015, Samsung maintained the No. 1 position, but its market share declined by 2.2 percentage points (see Table 2). In 2015, Apple sold 225.9 million iPhones, to achieve a market share of almost 16 per cent. Huawei’s smartphone sales approached 104 million units, up 53 per cent year over year.
Table 2
Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Vendor in 2015 (Thousands of Units)
| Company | 2015
Units |
2015 Market Share ( %) | 2014
Units |
2014 Market Share ( %) |
| Samsung | 320,219.7 | 22.5 | 307,596.9 | 24.7 |
| Apple | 225,850.6 | 15.9 | 191,425.8 | 15.4 |
| Huawei | 104,094.7 | 7.3 | 68,080.7 | 5.5 |
| Lenovo* | 72,748.2 | 5.1 | 81,415.8 | 6.5 |
| Xiaomi | 65,618.6 | 4.6 | 56,529.3 | 4.5 |
| Others | 635,368.5 | 44.6 | 539,691.3 | 43.4 |
| Total | 1,423,900.3 | 100.0 | 1,244,739.8 | 100.0 |
*The figures for Lenovo include sales of mobile phones by both Lenovo and Motorola
Source: Gartner (February 2016)
In terms of smartphone operating system (OS) market, Android increased 16.6 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2015, to account for 80.7 per cent of the global total (see Table 3). »Android benefited from continued demand for affordable smartphones and from the slowdown of iOS units in the premium market in the fourth quarter of 2015,” said Roberta Cozza, research director at Gartner. In the premium segment, despite Apple’s slower year-over-year fourth-quarter sales, Apple narrowed the market share gap with Samsung in 2015 as a whole.
Table 3
Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Operating System in 4Q15 (Thousands of Units)
| Operating System | 4Q15
Units |
4Q15 Market Share ( %) | 4Q14
Units |
4Q14 Market Share ( %) |
| Android | 325,394.4 | 80.7 | 279,057.5 | 76.0 |
| iOS | 71,525.9 | 17.7 | 74,831.7 | 20.4 |
| Windows | 4,395.0 | 1.1 | 10,424.5 | 2.8 |
| Blackberry | 906.9 | 0.2 | 1,733.9 | 0.5 |
| Others | 887.3 | 0.2 | 1,286.9 | 0.4 |
| Total | 403,109.4 | 100.0 | 367,334.4 | 100.0 |
Source: Gartner (February 2016)
Additional information is available in the Gartner report »Market Share: Devices, All Countries, 4Q15 Update.« https://www.gartner.com/doc/3213117