iPhone Drops to 15% Market Share as Smartphone Market Goes Flat

The latest data from research firm IDC reveals that Apple's smartphone market share dropped to 15.3 percent in the March quarter as the worldwide smartphone market fell nearly flat during the first three months of 2016.

Smartphone-Vendors-Q1-2016
Apple yesterday reported iPhone sales of 51.2 million during the three-month period ending March 26, compared to 61.2 million units and 18.3 percent market share in the year-ago quarter. Meanwhile, overall smartphone shipments totaled 334.9 million during the quarter, a year-over-year increase of only 500,000 units.

Despite the plethora of new features found on the newer "S" models, current iPhone 6/6 Plus owners may feel that a 6S upgrade may not be warranted at the moment. Apple also announced the new iPhone SE, which looks to challenge similarly priced Android options in numerous emerging markets where Apple has traditionally been seen as too expensive.

Samsung continued to lead the market with 81.9 million smartphones shipped for 24.5 percent market share, down only slightly from 24.6 percent in the year-ago quarter. Huawei, OPPO, and Vivo rounded off the top five smartphone makers in the quarter as Chinese vendors continue to churn the top of the charts.

Huawei, which manufactures Google's popular Android-based Nexus 6P smartphone, shipped 27.5 million handsets during the quarter for 8.2 percent market share as it attempts to compete with Apple and Samsung in the U.S. market and other regions beyond China. Its market share was 5.2 percent one year ago.

OPPO and Vivo, meanwhile, pushed out Lenovo and Xiaomi respectively for the fourth and fifth spots on the top smartphone vendors list.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Vertical Camera Feature

iPhone SE 4 Production Will Reportedly Begin Ramping Up in October

Tuesday July 23, 2024 2:00 pm PDT by
Following nearly two years of rumors about a fourth-generation iPhone SE, The Information today reported that Apple suppliers are finally planning to begin ramping up mass production of the device in October of this year. If accurate, that timeframe would mean that the next iPhone SE would not be announced alongside the iPhone 16 series in September, as expected. Instead, the report...
iPhone 17 Plus Feature

iPhone 17 Lineup Specs Detail Display Upgrade and New High-End Model

Monday July 22, 2024 4:33 am PDT by
Key details about the overall specifications of the iPhone 17 lineup have been shared by the leaker known as "Ice Universe," clarifying several important aspects of next year's devices. Reports in recent months have converged in agreement that Apple will discontinue the "Plus" iPhone model in 2025 while introducing an all-new iPhone 17 "Slim" model as an even more high-end option sitting...
Generic iPhone 17 Feature With Full Width Dynamic Island

Kuo: Ultra-Thin iPhone 17 to Feature A19 Chip, Single Rear Camera, Semi-Titanium Frame, and More

Wednesday July 24, 2024 9:06 am PDT by
Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo today shared alleged specifications for a new ultra-thin iPhone 17 model rumored to launch next year. Kuo expects the device to be equipped with a 6.6-inch display with a current-size Dynamic Island, a standard A19 chip rather than an A19 Pro chip, a single rear camera, and an Apple-designed 5G chip. He also expects the device to have a...
iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Series Is Less Than Two Months Away: Everything We Know

Thursday July 25, 2024 5:43 am PDT by
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
icloud private relay outage

iCloud Private Relay Experiencing Outage

Thursday July 25, 2024 3:18 pm PDT by
Apple’s iCloud Private Relay service is down for some users, according to Apple’s System Status page. Apple says that the iCloud Private Relay service may be slow or unavailable. The outage started at 2:34 p.m. Eastern Time, but it does not appear to be affecting all iCloud users. Some impacted users are unable to browse the web without turning iCloud Private Relay off, while others are...
iPhone 17 Plus Feature Purple

iPhone 17 Rumored to Feature Mechanical Aperture

Tuesday July 23, 2024 9:32 am PDT by
Apple is planning to release at least one iPhone 17 model next year with mechanical aperture, according to a report published today by The Information. The mechanical system would allow users to adjust the size of the iPhone 17's aperture, which refers to the opening of the camera lens through which light enters. All existing iPhone camera lenses have fixed apertures, but some Android...

Top Rated Comments

smacrumon Avatar
108 months ago
Apple's got its pricing all wrong. I would have entered the Apple ecosystem ten years earlier than I did. I simply couldn't afford to buy an Apple product earlier. Apple's retail prices are terribly overpriced, and in contrast, Apple's offshore workforce are terribly underpaid. How about some middle ground, Apple? Price lower and go for volume. Do we need to get to Huawei market share level before price changes are made?

No new
iPhone in 4 inch at 6/6s launch - mistake.
Retail pricing too high - mistake.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
StrangeNoises Avatar
108 months ago
Wonder if they're starting to think, you know, maybe our new iPhone this year needs to be a bit less... boring.

... deciding to hang on to my 5s until next year...
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
American Hero Avatar
108 months ago
Apple's got its pricing all wrong. I would have entered the Apple ecosystem ten years earlier than I did. I simply couldn't afford to buy an Apple product earlier. Apple's retail prices are terribly overpriced, and in contrast, Apple's offshore workforce are terribly underpaid. How about some middle ground, Apple? Price lower and go for volume. Do we need to get to Huawei market share level before price changes are made?
No new iPhone in 4 inch at 6/6s launch - mistake.
Retail pricing too high - mistake.
The pricing isn't wrong with the entry level model, it's the storage that's the problem.

Should be 32 GB (5.5") for $649, and then 64 GB for $699.
Should be 32 GB (4.7") for $549 and then 64 GB for $599.

A 128 GB phablet shouldn't cost $1,000.00.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NT1440 Avatar
108 months ago
Jesus christ people. Can we stop with the marketshare nonsense? Apple clearly isn't aiming to be the leader in marketshare. Everything they do is to maximize the profit share of the smartphone business, which they are wildly successful at being pretty much the only money maker worth discussing.

I know everyone wants to be a Wall $treet big wig, but if your aim isn't marketshare, why the hell does everyone refer to it as if it's some type of ideal to aim for?
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Crosscreek Avatar
108 months ago
Chinese are coming on strong with well engineered products at a reasonable price. You can't have a 16GB phone as the standard anymore and the days of 30% profit are over.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BarmyGnome Avatar
108 months ago
Saturation.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)