Research firm IDC yesterday released its estimates on worldwide mobile phone sales for the first quarter of 2013, showing Apple losing some ground in the smartphone market with only 6.6% year-over-year growth compared to 41.6% growth for the entire market. Still, Apple maintained a firm grasp on the number two spot behind Samsung, as challengers LG, Huawei, and ZTE were unable to reach the 5% mark during the quarter.
Worldwide Smartphone Shipments in 1Q13 in Millions of Units (Source: IDC)
Apple's smartphone shipment volume hit a new first-quarter high thanks in part to the iPhone 5, with volume growing 6.6% year over year. However, the last time the iPhone maker posted a single-digit year-over-year growth rate was 3Q09. The iPhone maker has held the second spot in the smartphone rankings for the past five quarters. Apple's mix of models shipped to market is increasingly diversified as it tries to reach new buyers.
Apple does, however, continue to ride the wave of popularity for smartphones, with IDC noting that smartphones outsold feature phones for the first time during the quarter. As a result, Apple's 6.6% year-over-growth outpaced the 4.0% growth rate of the mobile phone market as a whole, allowing Apple to creep up to an 8.9% share.
Worldwide Mobile Phone Shipments in 1Q13 in Millions of Units (Source: IDC)
Apple is planning to debut a high-end secondary version of AirPods Pro 3 this year, sitting in the lineup alongside the current model, reports suggest.
Back in September 2025, supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple is planning to introduce a successor to the AirPods Pro 3 in 2026. This would be somewhat unusual since Apple normally waits around three years to make major...
Sunday January 18, 2026 3:51 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
iOS 27 is still many months away, but there are already plenty of rumors about new features that will be included in the software update.
The first beta of iOS 27 will be released during WWDC 2026 in June, and the update should be released to all users with a compatible iPhone in September.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that iOS 27 will be similar to Mac OS X Snow Leopard, in the sense...
Sunday January 18, 2026 6:50 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
MacBook Pro availability is tightening on Apple's online store, with select configurations facing up to a two-month delivery timeframe in the United States.
A few 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro configurations with an M4 Pro chip are not facing any shipping delay, but estimated delivery dates for many configurations with an M4 Max chip range from February 6 to February 24 or even later. At...
Tuesday January 20, 2026 2:34 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Over the last few months, rumors around the iPhone 18 Pro's front-panel design have been conflicted, with some supply-chain leaks pointing to under-display Face ID, reports suggesting a top-left hole-punch camera, and debate over whether the familiar Dynamic Island will shrink, shift, or disappear entirely.
Today, Weibo-based leaker Instant Digital shared new details that appear to clarify the ...
Thursday January 15, 2026 10:56 am PST by Joe Rossignol
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not expected to launch for another eight months, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices.
Below, we have recapped 12 features rumored for the iPhone 18 Pro models, as of January 2026:
The same overall design is expected, with 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch display sizes, and a "plateau" housing three rear cameras
Under-screen Face ID...
What i DON'T like about the iPhone is a far longer list, Poor Battery Life, Poor Screen quality compared to the Super AMOLED screens on the Samsungs, tiny screen size, price for what you get is appalling compared to competitors.
See, this is interesting. I have to disagree with you on all these points.
The battery life on the iPhone isn't poor compared to the industry in general. It's actually pretty good. Sure, it could be better - but it certainly isn't bad.
The iPhone 5 screen is widely considered to be among the best screens available on any consumer device. If you consider all things, not just the PPI then you see things more clearly... no pun intended! OK. Pun intended.
Screen size is smaller, yes - this is a preference thing. I, for one, am glad that Apple hasn't gone crazy with the massive screens. This article on The Verge was a breath of fresh air for me - finally some people talking sense about screen sizes: http://www.theverge.com/2013/4/16/4230996/motorola-developing-android-phones-with-stock-software-just-right-size
As for price, other high end smartphones are roughly the same price offline. The Galaxy s4, for example, is around £600 offline here in the UK. About the same as a 32GB iPhone 5. Plus, with the iPhone, you don't get the tacky cheap plastic and the bloatware - and you get support! Software updates, an amazing ecosystem and people to talk to. All worth money to me.
Obviously, all things are down to personal taste in the end, but to claim that the iPhone has a poor battery and a poor screen and is too expensive is just factually incorrect.
What i DON'T like about the iPhone is a far longer list, Poor Battery Life, Poor Screen quality compared to the Super AMOLED screens on the Samsungs, tiny screen size, price for what you get is appalling compared to competitors.
Do you really find the screens on Samsung phones that much better? The ones I've seen in person have been horribly color-balanced.
