Gartner has released a report for worldwide sales of smartphones to end users in 2017. The overall result is not surprising as Android was once again on top, followed by Apple’s iOS and others. The numbers behind this report are more interesting as you can get a clear picture of the trend in the world mobile market.
Apple’s iOS sees a decline
The first main story is that Apple’s iOS posted a year-over-year decline in the market share of worldwide smartphone operating system, when comparing numbers from 2015 to 2017. The only other platforms with growth included Google’s Android OS. It is very clear that Apple lost market share to Android as iOS went from 17.2% market share in 2015 to 14.4% market share in 2016, and 14% market share in 2017, losing exactly 3.2% share of the world mobile market. Meanwhile, Android market share has increased year over year 36% in 2016 and 1.1% in 2017. It is quite astonishing that Android doubled its market share in 2016 (from 48.8% in 2015 to 84.8% in 2016) leaving behind BlackBerry, Windows Phone, Symbian OS with 0.8% market share in 2016.
| Operating System | 2017 (Units) | 2017 Market Share (%) | 2016 (Units) | 2016 Market Share (%) | 2015 (Units) | 2015 Market Share (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Android | 1320118.1 | 85.9 | 1268562.7 | 84.8 | 539318 | 48.8 |
| iOS | 214924.4 | 14 | 216064 | 14.4 | 189924 | 17.2 |
| Other OS | 1493 | 0.1 | 11332.2 | 0.8 | 375656 | 34 |
| Total | 1536535.5 | 100 | 1495959 | 100 | 1104898 | 100 |
The competitors left in the dust
The second main story of 2017 sales numbers is that Android and Apple are the only two smartphone players in the global market. The competitors including BlackBerry, Windows Phone, and Symbian OS declined from 34% in 2015 to abysmal 0.1% in 2017. With only 1493 units sold by competitors, it is safe to say that there are no remaining competitors for Android and Apple in the smartphone industry.
Chinese Android manufacturers see a big growth
Android has always been open source, allowing it to be accessible by a wide range of manufacturers. Which results in a greater number of Android devices being created, shipped, and purchased every year. Samsung has remained at the top with 20.9% market share and continues to lead the competition with the most number of devices sold. However, Huawei, OPPO, and Vivo smartphone vendors have seen consistent growth and grew market share in 2017. Huawei’s has broadened its appeal with recently introduced new smartphones, including Mate 10 Lite, Honor 6C Pro and P20 Pro smartphones.
The Chinese smartphone manufacturers have seen majority of the growth in the emerging Asia/Pacific (APAC) market.
| Vendor | 2017 Units | 2017 Market Share (%) | 2016 Units | 2016 Market Share (%) | 2015 Units | 2015 Market Share (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samsung | 321263.3 | 20.9 | 306446.6 | 20.5 | 320219.7 | 22.5 |
| Apple | 214924.4 | 14 | 216064 | 14.4 | 225850.6 | 15.9 |
| Huawei | 150534.3 | 9.8 | 132824.9 | 8.9 | 104094.7 | 7.3 |
| OPPO | 112124 | 7.3 | 85299.5 | 5.7 | 39489 | 2.8 |
| Vivo | 99684.8 | 6.5 | 72408.6 | 4.8 | 35291.3 | 2.5 |
| Others | 638004.7 | 41.5 | 682915.3 | 45.7 | 698955.1 | 49.1 |
| Total | 1536535.5 | 100 | 1495959 | 100 | 1423900.4 | 100 |
Apple makes a comeback in Q1 2018
Not everything is doom and gloom for the big Apple. With the introduction of Apple’s iPhone X and Plus sized iPhones, Apple has had a lot of success outselling Android handsets for the first time in many years. According to a report from Strategy Analytics, Apple iPhone X was the world’s best-selling smartphone model followed by iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone 7. In Q1 2018, the top four best selling smartphones were from Apple.
| Device | Market Share | Units Sold |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Apple iPhone X | 4.6% | 16M |
| 2. Apple iPhone 8 | 3.6% | 12.5M |
| 3. Apple iPhone 8 Plus | 2.4% | 8.3M |
| 4. Apple iPhone 7 | 1.6% | 5.6M |
| 5. Xiaomi Redmi 5A | 1.6% | 5.4M |
| 6. Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus | 1.5% | 5.3M |
| Rest of Total Market | 84.6% | 292.3M |
That being said, you also have to be careful when looking at quarterly sales figures as each company releases their smartphones at different times during the year. For instance, Apple has just released iPhone X and iPhone 8 later last year, so it is expected to have great sales figures in Q1 2018. On the other hand, competitors like Samsung, Huawei, LG, OnePlus release their new flagship smartphones in Q1-Q2 2018, so we will get a better look at the sales numbers later in 2018.
However, Apple is still at the top when it comes to making money as it accounts to 93% of profits made from all smartphones sold. This is mainly due to the insanely high profit margins of the iPhone and the fact that Android is more dominant in the low-end smartphone market.
Some analysts have also suggested that the Apple iOS market share has seen a decline mainly because of the long 1 year product cycle. It will be interesting to see if Apple continues to maintain this downward trend after the release of upcoming smartphones in 2018.
Source: Gartner, StrategyAnalytics
I am officially a tech addict and enjoy providing my views on matters related to this industry. I am always interested in trying out new tech gadgets and I have owned multiple smartphones including the legendary HTC One, SGS2, Nexus 4, iPhone 4, 5S, 6S, XR, Note 9. You can ask me any tech related questions in the comment section or on twitter @hookedNav