The latest numbers from Strategy Analytics reveal that Samsung surpassed Apple to reclaim its position as the world's largest smartphone maker in the first quarter of 2015. The two smartphone vendors were previously tied in the fourth quarter of 2014 after Apple matched Samsung with 74.5 million smartphones shipped on the strength of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus and busy holiday shopping season.
Samsung recaptured the number one position with 83.2 million smartphones shipped in the first quarter, while Apple trailed in second with 61.2 million smartphones shipped during the three-month period ending March. Lenovo-Motorola finished a distant third with 18.8 million smartphones shipped, followed by Huawei at 17.3 million and 164.5 million smartphones shipped by other vendors.
Despite its first place finish, Samsung's global share of the smartphone market dropped to 24.1% in the first quarter of 2015 compared to 31.2% in the year-ago quarter. Apple's global smartphone market share grew marginally to 17.7% in Q1 2015 compared to 15.3% in Q1 2014. The global smartphone market experienced 21% year-over-year growth overall, from 285 million units in Q1 2014 to 345 million in Q1 2015.
While it was impressive that Apple was able to tie Samsung during the fourth quarter, based on the popularity of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, it was highly probable that Samsung would eventually reclaim its title as number one again. The electronics giant's smartphone lineup is much larger than the iPhone lineup, with at least a half-dozen current-generation devices available compared to only a handful of iPhones.
Some global stats on MR for once. About time. Nothing annoys me more when the articles here seem to assume that US = The World.
I'm glad you appreciated the global aspect of this particular story.
I am the editor of this article and actually live in Canada, so I definitely don't try to make our content revolve around the United States. At the same time, I do understand that Apple is an American company and that the United States is their largest market alongside China, so naturally our coverage is going to be skewed towards the U.S. at times.
Thursday January 27, 2022 12:08 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple today seeded the first betas of iOS 15.4, iPadOS 15.4 to developers for testing purposes, adding a slew of new features to the latest iOS operating systems. iOS 15.4 is the biggest update that we've had to iOS 15 to date, and it brings Universal Control, Face ID with a mask, new emojis, and tons more.
Face ID With a Mask
With iOS 15.4, there is now an option to unlock your iPhone...
Thursday January 27, 2022 11:33 am PST by Juli Clover
With the iOS 15.4 update that was introduced today, Apple has added support for Emoji 14, introducing a selection of new emoji like melting face, biting lip, heart hands, and more. There are 37 new emoji and 75 skin tone additions in Emoji 14, resulting in a total of 112 characters.
New faces include melting face, saluting face, face with open eyes and hand over mouth, face with peeking eye, ...
Wednesday January 26, 2022 8:56 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Benchmark results have started to surface for MSI's new GE76 Raider, one of the first laptops to be powered by Intel's new 12th-generation Core i9 processor.
Intel previously said that its new high-end Core i9 processor is faster than Apple's M1 Max chip in the 16-inch MacBook Pro and, as noted by Macworld, early Geekbench 5 results do appear to confirm this claim, but there are several...
Thursday January 27, 2022 1:22 pm PST by Juli Clover
In today's iOS 15.4 beta that's available to developers, Apple added a useful new feature that changes the way Face ID works. There's now a Face ID with a Mask option that allows the iPhone to be unlocked when you're wearing a mask, but you need to have an iPhone 12 or newer.
Right now, an iPhone can be unlocked with a mask if you have an Apple Watch for authentication to add an extra layer...
Thursday January 27, 2022 10:54 am PST by Juli Clover
The iOS 15.4 beta that was introduced today added a new feature designed to allow Face ID to be used with a mask and without an Apple Watch for authentication. Apple says that the feature can "recognize the unique features around the eye" for authentication purposes. If you opt to use this feature during setup, you will need to rescan your face for Face ID. From there, Face ID will be able...
Apple today announced the Black Unity Braided Solo Loop for the Apple Watch, as well as a new downloadable watch face, to celebrate Black History Month. Following the launch of the limited edition Black Unity Apple Watch Series 6 and Sport Band in 2021, Apple today launched the Black Unity Braided Solo Loop as part of its celebrations for Black History Month this year.Apple is launching a...
Wednesday January 26, 2022 10:00 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today released iOS 15.3 and iPadOS 15.3, the third major updates to the iOS and iPadOS 15 operating systems that were released in September 2021. iOS and iPadOS 15.3 come almost two weeks after the release of iOS and iPadOS 15.2.1, minor bug fix updates.
The iOS 15.3 and iPadOS 15.3 updates can be downloaded for free and the software is available on all eligible devices over-the-air in ...
Tuesday January 25, 2022 3:31 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
Dropbox today announced that users who update to macOS 12.3 once that software version becomes available may temporarily encounter issues with opening online-only files in some third-party apps on their Mac.
In a support document and an email to customers, Dropbox said it is actively working on full support for online-only files on macOS 12.3 and will begin rolling out an updated version of...
Apple on January 26 finally released the iOS 15.3 and iPadOS 15.3 updates to the public, but unfortunately, these updates are focused more on security fixes than outward-facing changes.
Top Rated Comments
I am the editor of this article and actually live in Canada, so I definitely don't try to make our content revolve around the United States. At the same time, I do understand that Apple is an American company and that the United States is their largest market alongside China, so naturally our coverage is going to be skewed towards the U.S. at times.