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Samsung Reclaims Title of World's Largest Smartphone Maker As It Recovers From Galaxy Note7

Tuesday April 11, 2017 7:23 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Samsung topped Apple as the world's largest smartphone maker in the first quarter, as it continues to show signs of recovery following its disastrous Galaxy Note7 recall last year, according to Taiwanese research firm TrendForce.


Samsung reclaimed the number one spot with an estimated 26.1 percent market share, trailed by Apple at an estimated 16.9 percent, said TrendForce. Chinese vendor Huawei, which aims to become the world's largest smartphone maker within four years, finished third with an estimated 11.4 percent market share.


Samsung is traditionally the world's largest smartphone maker, as it sells millions of inexpensive smartphones alongside its flagship devices, so this would normally be no surprise. However, after Samsung recalled the Galaxy Note7 due to defective batteries, Apple overtook its South Korean rival in the fourth quarter.

While the worst might be over for Samsung now, TrendForce said the company's sales results for its high-end smartphones still "fell short of expectations" in the first quarter, as consumer confidence in the brand had "yet to fully recover" from Galaxy Note7 recall and subsequent discontinuation in the fall.

Nevertheless, Samsung's continued success in the mid-range and low-end segments of the market allowed it to reclaim its crown.
The economically priced, high-performing Galaxy J series sustained Samsung’s shipments and contributed significantly to the expansion of the brand’s overall smartphone production volume. Samsung was the only brand that saw positive growth in production volume during the off season of the first quarter.
Samsung's focus has now shifted towards the Galaxy S8, set to launch later this month. The smartphone features an edge-to-edge 5.8-inch display with no physical home button, foreshadowing the rumored design of the tentatively named iPhone 8. And it shouldn't catch on fire like the Galaxy Note7, as Samsung now performs an 8-point battery check on all of its smartphones.

It's important to recognize that these are estimated figures only, and that shipments do not necessarily reflect sales to customers.

Apple will officially report its iPhone sales figures for the first quarter, corresponding with the second quarter of its 2017 fiscal year, on May 2.

Tags: Samsung, TrendForce, Galaxy Note 7
[ 162 comments ]


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78Bandit
31 months ago
Quarterly reports are meaningless. Manufacturers typically release one new flagship per year with a spike in sales during the first quarter after and then rapidly tapering off.

The Samsung S8 will likely outsell the iPhone 7 this quarter while the iPhone 7S/8 will likely outsell Samsung in the 4th quarter. And in other news water is wet.

Year-over-year numbers are most comparable.
Rating: 16 Votes
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AJ5790
31 months ago
It's also important to remember that selling a ton of phones at a loss is bad, not good. Lol!
Rating: 16 Votes
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NinjaHERO
31 months ago
Awesome. Stuff like this just pushes Apple to be better.
Rating: 14 Votes
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Jsameds
31 months ago

Godfather. Mona Lisa. David. Moby-Dick. Chaconne. Galaxy S8. One of the most beautifully crafted works of art.


Tunguska Event. Mount Vesuvius. Great Fire of London. Hiroshima. Galaxy Note 7.
Rating: 11 Votes
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satchmo
31 months ago

('https://www.macrumors.com/2017/04/11/samsung-worlds-largest-smartphone-maker-q1-17/')

It's important to recognize that these are estimated figures only, and that shipments do not necessarily reflect sales to customers.


This should be the first line in the article.
Rating: 10 Votes
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dominiongamma
31 months ago
Apple needs to step it up for iPhone 8
Rating: 10 Votes
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TheTruth101
31 months ago
I just still in shock that Apple is saying that they will release the new Mac Pro in two years, so... what have they been doing in the last 3? Since day one everybody said they were a failure. In two years the entire market has changed. Apple is not producing any productivity tools, just leisure garbage.
Rating: 9 Votes
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rtomyj
31 months ago

I just still in shock that Apple is saying that they will release the new Mac Pro in two years, so... what have they been doing in the last 3? Since they one everybody said they were a failure. In two years the entire market has changed. Apple is not producing any productivity tools, just leisure garbage.

Let's see....
Swift, new file system, Metal, some smarter OS features, improving services, making a kick ass music service (bias but dang I love the integration), etc. Also, it seems like a lot of people who actually own the MacBook Pro are liking it. Let's be honest with ourselves, Apple is doing a lot. Just focusing on other things and I for one would rather they modernize things that will make it easier to work with them than make a moderately better phone with only a screen improvement.
Rating: 7 Votes
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HJM.NL
31 months ago

Market share is the means, profit is the end.

Largest smartphone vendor in itself is a meaningless title which Samsung is more than welcome to keep for themselves.

The company that sells less and takes 90% of the profit is taking too much of your money. Of course you need to make profit for future investments. But overprice it for too long and your customers shop elsewhere. I don't like the samsung company culture, it's too aggressive and isn't ashamed in stealing other good ideas. But on the other hand, there products are competitive priced and they offer value for money. That's a thing Apple forgot by milking their customers for way too long.
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Not surprised. The S8 is a masterpiece

I totally agree on you with that. If it had an Apple badge on the back everyone would praise it to heaven :cool:
Rating: 7 Votes
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AppleScruff1
31 months ago

If a product spontaneously combusting can't kill brand loyalty, what can?


Tim Cook?
Rating: 5 Votes

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