Those who love to talk about the so-called decline of Apple might like to consider this news…
The iPhone 5 has overtaken Samsung’s Galaxy S3 to become the world’s best-selling smartphone model for the first time ever in the fourth quarter of 2012.
It shipped an estimated 27.4 million units worldwide during this period to capture a very impressive 13 per cent share of all smartphones shipped globally.
The good news for Apple does not end there though…it also shipped an estimated 17.4 million iPhone 4S units in the same period – giving that model an eight per cent share of the global market.
This means that the iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S are currently the world’s two most popular smartphone models – not bad at all.
Put it another way…these two phones accounted for more than one in five of all smartphones sold worldwide.
The research from Strategy Analytics estimates that Samsung’s Galaxy S3 was the world’s third best-selling smartphone – shipping 15.4 million units globally and capturing a seven per cent market share in the fourth quarter of 2012.
The report said: “Global demand for the Galaxy S3 appears to have peaked and Samsung will surely be keen to introduce its rumored Galaxy S4 upgrade in the coming weeks to fight back against Apple’s popular iPhone range.”
Here are the numbers in table form:
|
Global Smartphone Shipments by Model (Millions of Units)
|
Q3 ’12
|
Q4 ’12
|
|
Apple iPhone 5
|
6.0
|
27.4
|
|
Apple iPhone 4S
|
16.2
|
17.4
|
|
Samsung Galaxy S3
|
18.0
|
15.4
|
|
Others
|
132.6
|
156.8
|
|
Total
|
172.8
|
217.0
|
|
Global Smartphone Marketshare by Model (% of Total)
|
Q3 ’12
|
Q4 ’12
|
|
Apple iPhone 5
|
3.5%
|
12.6%
|
|
Apple iPhone 4S
|
9.4%
|
8.0%
|
|
Samsung Galaxy S3
|
10.4%
|
7.1%
|
|
Others
|
76.7%
|
72.3%
|
|
Total
|
100.0%
|
100.0%
|
Via: Strategy Analytics